Case file · Folklore / legend
The 'inscription' of Pedra da Gávea
In 1839 the new Brazilian Historical and Geographic Institute sent a commission to look at marks on the face of Pedra da Gávea in Rio, rumoured to be an ancient inscription.
1839 CE · -23.00, -43.28 · status: explained
The account
Twentieth-century writers such as Bernardo da Silva Ramos claimed it was Phoenician and named a king. The rock's 'face' and 'tomb' became fixtures of Rio's alternative-history lore.
Connections in the atlas
- Manuscript 512 and the lost city of Bahia
- The Paraíba 'Phoenician' inscription
- São Thomé das Letras, the 'mystic city'