Foundation Stone of Brasília

About this place

The Foundation Stone of Brasília is a small obelisk on the Morro do Centenário hill at 1,033 metres, ten kilometres from Planaltina, the oldest town in the Federal District. It was laid at noon on 7 September 1922, on the centenary of Brazil's independence, on the orders of President Epitácio Pessoa, to mark the founding of a new capital on the central plateau. The idea of moving the capital inland was old: the Constitution of 1891 set aside an area on the central plateau for it, and survey missions to mark out the site followed. Actual construction was only approved in 1953. A curious story is told about the stone: the engineer in charge learned of the task only ten days before the date and had to raise the monument 450 kilometres from where he was. The obelisk is a square-based pyramid 3.75 metres tall, with its faces turned to the four cardinal points and a commemorative plaque on its west face. The hill gives a wide view over the cerrado plateau around Planaltina.