Parque da Independência

This guide to Parque da Independência in São Paulo begins with the search for the exact spot where Dom Pedro I supposedly declared Brazil's independence on horseback in 1822, and the surveyors who marked the ground in 1825. You'll hear how the marker was buried and forgotten for decades, then how a work crew's shovel struck the sealed box again in 1921, expecting a discovery. It follows two centuries of confusion over ground that nobody could quite agree on.