The year was 1883. The Italian priest Giovanni Belchior Bosco ( St. John Bosco), also known as Don Bosco, was having another one of his many prophetic visions. The Pope Pio IX had advised him to write down all his visions in order to share them with the brothers of the Salesian Society. That day, Don Bosco wrote:
"In the southern hemisphere, between the parallels 15 and 20, around a lake, I see a great civilization arising. Honey and milk flows from its center, and gold is hidden underneath its land."
John Bosco was canonized later, and his visions were kept safe. Eighty years after his vision, the Brazilian president made a decision that would determine the future of the country: the new capital of Brazil should be moved to the middle of nowhere, in the heart of Brazil, around the parallel 16.
