OPEN
saturdays, sundays & holidays
9am to 18pm
ATTRACTIONS
Earth Trail
Length: 550 m
Elevation: 66 m
Average ramp: 12%
Floor: unpaved road
Difficulty level: medium
On the Earth Trail, visitors travel through time, from the past to the present, and follow the evolution of planet Earth and life. The distance covered on the trail is proportional to the time the Earth has existed. The 550 meters of the trail represent the main events that occurred in the 4.6 billion years of terrestrial evolution, focusing on local aspects related to the environment and life. On the uphill route, the landscape changes as you gain height, allowing you to glimpse wider horizons of Serra do Mar.
Sun Square
Inside a natural amphitheater of sea mountains, in Serra do Mar, Praça do Sol is a space for contemplating nature and perceiving earthly movements. The square's axis is aligned with the Earth's axis of rotation and visitors can observe both the sun's trajectory throughout the day and its trajectory throughout the year.
In the square you can see:
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Compass Rose
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Azimuth Circle
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The 6 Obelisks
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The Sundial
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The surrounding landscape - 1,320 m above sea level
Compass Rose
In the center of the square, a Compass Rose is expanded by a circular path, the Circle of Azimuths, which details the directions and guides the visitor in observing the landscape and astronomical events related to the sun, moon, planets, stars and constellations.
Obelisks
Obelisks are landmarks that indicate the places where the sun appears and disappears in the landscape throughout the year, as well as its trajectory in the celestial vault.
To the east and west, Praça do Sol contains 6 Obelisks that mark the place where the sun rises and sets at the beginning of each season of the year, spring, summer, autumn and winter. On these days, called equinoxes and solstices, the shadow of an obelisk crosses the square through the center of the Compass Rose towards the opposite obelisk.
In the Southern Hemisphere, on the summer solstice, the sun rises in the southeast, passes high in the sky and sets in the southwest. On the spring and autumn equinoxes it rises exactly in the east and sets in the west. At the winter solstice, it rises in the northeast, passes very low in the sky and sets in the northwest.
Sundial
To the south of the square is a Sun ial, an instrument that allows the time to be read through the shadow that is projected when sunlight falls on its components. Its origins belong to the ancient civilizations that first understood the concept of time and were concerned with its measurement. The people of Mesopotamia, China and Egypt developed the first instruments more than 5,000 years ago.
The Sundial is made up of a semi-circle path, with hourly marks every 5 minutes, where the shadow of a vertical piece called gnomon is projected, a word that comes from Greek, meaning “the one that points”. The gnomon points towards the south celestial pole and its inclination is the same as that of the Earth's axis of rotation. It presents a table that corresponds between solar and official times.
Landscape
With panoramic views in all directions, at an altitude of 1,320 meters, the landscape of Praça do Sol presents the rounded hills of Serra do Mar, the crest of Serra da Bocaina and in the background the imposing Serra da Mantiqueira, with its highest peak, Pico Pedra da Mina, the fourth highest mountain in Brazil, the largest in the State of São Paulo, in addition to the group of mountains called the Sleeping Giant, as well as Pico das Agulhas Negras, in the Itatiaia National Park. It also allows the contemplation of the Atlantic Forest permeated with Araucárias, in addition to historical stretches of the Ancient Gold Path, from the high point of Serra do Mar to the Embaú pass, the lower part of Serra da Mantiqueira, the route of troops that in colonial times traveled in search of the riches of the county.
Serra da Mantiqueira
Pico da Pedra da Mina - Pico das Agulhas Negras
Serra da Mantiqueira – Bocaina - Araucárias
Serra da Mantiqueira – Sleeping Giant
South
Night Landscape
The night sky allows you to glimpse the immensity of the universe, with the moon, planets, stars, constellations and galaxies.
On clear nights in Praça do Sol the sky is dotted with myriads of stars. A camera installed on a tripod, shooting at regular intervals, obtains photographs that, once joined together, show the path taken by the stars in the celestial vault throughout the exposure period.
East
North
West
The night images of Praça do Sol, facing south, north, east and west were obtained through 240 exposures and each arc-shaped line shows the path taken by a star in the sky during an hour and a half.