Borba Gato Statue
Record: 10 m
Manuel de Borba Gato (1649 - 1718) was a bandeirante from São Paulo. He began his activities with his father-in-law, Fernão Dias Pais. When he died in 1718, when he was almost 70 years old, he held the position of ordinary judge of the town of Sabará. It is unknown where he was buried, perhaps in the Chapel of St. Anthony or the Chapel of Santana, both of the old camp of Sabará, or, according to some authors, in Paraopeba where there was a site. In addition to discovering mines, he was a skilled steward at the end of his life.
Statue in honor
In the city of São Paulo a statue was built in honor of Borba Gato. Inaugurated in 1963, in commemoration of the 4th Centenary of Santo Amaro, the statue took six years to be built.
It was the work of the sculptor Júlio Guerra, who to make it used tram tracks to compose the concrete structure, later covered with colored stones of basalt and marble. The statue stands ten meters high and weighs twenty tons, the most difficult phase being the placement of the head, which, weighing three tons, was raised by more than ten meters in height.
Located at a height of 5700 from Santo Amaro Avenue, in conjunction with Adolfo Pinheiro Avenue, the statue is part of the Inventory of Art Works in Public Areas of the City of São Paulo, maintained by the Department of Historic Patrimony. Close to this monument is the Borba Gato station of Line 5-Lilac, recently inaugurated.
Wikipedia
