Heróis Da Travessia Do Atlântico, Monument and public heritage site in Socorro District, São Paulo, Brazil.
Heróis Da Travessia Do Atlântico is a granite and bronze monument in São Paulo that honors aviators who flew between Europe and South America. The sculpture stands in Socorro District and commemorates pilots who established an important air connection between the two continents.
The monument was inaugurated in 1929 to honor Italian pilots who completed their South Atlantic flight in 1927. This crossing was a milestone in aviation history and proved that regular air service between Europe and South America was possible.
The monument was commissioned by the Società Dante Alighieri, an Italian cultural society, which explains its focus on Italian aviators. A Corinthian column embedded in the pedestal was reportedly taken from an ancient building on Rome's Capitoline Hill and sent by Benito Mussolini to commemorate the feat.
The monument stands in Socorro District, the area it was moved to in 2010 after leaving the Jardins neighbourhood. It is an outdoor public work, so it can be viewed at any hour from the surrounding streets; the nearest metro reference is Santo Amaro station, from which bus lines continue toward the district.
A Corinthian capital set into the pedestal is said to have come from an ancient building found on Rome's Capitoline Hill, sent to São Paulo by Benito Mussolini. The monument also honours the Brazilian João Ribeiro de Barros, who flew the Jahú hydroplane across the South Atlantic in 1927, months after the Italians.
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