Monumento aos Fundadores de São Paulo, Bronze and granite monument in Vila Mariana District, Brazil.
The Monumento aos Fundadores de São Paulo is a bronze and granite monument in Vila Mariana District that commemorates the city's founders. The structure features bronze figures of historical figures such as Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta mounted on a granite base.
The monument was inaugurated on January 25, 1963, commemorating those who established and shaped São Paulo during colonial times. It marks the memory of the city's early years and the role these founding figures played.
The nine bronze figures group religious figures Manuel da Nóbrega, José de Anchieta and Manuel de Paiva with the Portuguese explorers Martim Afonso de Sousa and João Ramalho, the indigenous leaders Tibiriçá and Bartira, the boy Curumim and Bartira's unidentified baby. A central cross refers to the Catholic religion, and the granite base carries the names TIBIRIÇÁ and BARTIRA.
The monument stands on Nábia Abdala Chohfi Street at the corner of Sargento Mario Kozel Filho Avenue, near Rua Manoel da Nóbrega, in front of Palácio 9 de Julho and between the Ibirapuera Gymnasium and the Monument to the Bandeiras. The bronze group and granite pedestal are viewed from street level, so the figures and the inscribed names Tibiriçá and Bartira are seen from below.
The ninth figure is a baby in Bartira's lap whom no source identifies. The plaque depicting the first mass was stolen in 2004; because no photograph of it is known, it was replaced by a placeholder plaque recording the theft. Of the central cross, only the vertical pole remains since at least 2016.
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