The city's Marco Zero ("zero milestone") is located at Praça da Sé, indicating the directions of the states that share boundaries with São Paulo and from where the distance of any point in the state starts being counted. Catedral Metropolitana da Sé (Sé Metropolitan Cathedral) is located there. The square has a gothic style, started being built in 1913 and it was completed only four decades later.

With a height and width of 11 meters and 46 meters, respectively, 92-meter high towers, a 30-meter high dome, and a capacity for 8,000 people, it is the biggest church in São Paulo. In its crypt, which can be considered an underground church, there are sculptures by Francisco Leopoldo.

The Praça da Sé has recently been lovingly restored. Two files of imperial palms enclose a flagstone-covered courtyard with a sundial at the center. People stroll through this area, slowing or stopping to give an ear to the ever-present street preachers.

Páteo do Colégio
Rua Boa Vista, next to Praça da Sé. In 1554, after an expedition, priest Anchieta decided to build a place to accommodate Brazilian native indians and to be used as a school to teach religious subjects to them. That was how the city of São Paulo was founded. Today, the place is home to Museu de Anchieta (Anchieta Museum).

Explore São Paulo

  ·Along Avenida Paulista
  ·Around São Paulo
  ·Bixiga
  ·Butantã and Morumbi
  ·Jardins
  ·Liberdade
  ·North of Praça da Sé
  ·Parque do Estado
  ·Parque do Ibirapuera
  ·Praça da República and around
  ·Praça da Sé