Brazil: Ouro Preto

Ouro Preto is the grand dame of the gold mining towns. It is Brazil's first entry to UNESCO - 1980. We were not disappointed. There is no other town quite like it. The town was built from one hill to the next. I guess gold makes people do crazy things. All day long we are going up and down the hills, there is not a square acre that's flat. Once we came to accept the hills - we are training for New Zealand - we rather liked the place.

There are many magnificent churches. We saw more works by Aleijadinho. Since he was the son of a Portuguese immigrant and African slave, he never worshipped in most of the churches he lavishly adorned. Like everywhere else slaves had their own church, except in Ouro Preto, the slave churches were opulent.

We loved going to all the viewpoints, as well as the beautiful valley walk in Parque Horto dos Contos, preserved since 1799.

The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi was designed, inside and out, by Aleijadinho. He did the stone and wood carvings. See the exterior stone medallions (2nd below), sacristy fountain (3rd), and pulpit (4th); Manoel da Costa Ataíde,the greatest painter of the Brazilian Baroque, did the ceiling painting.














Looking back towards city center from the Church of Santa Efigenia.


The Interior of Santa Efigenia has the usual elements of most churches in Ouro Preto: painted ceiling, recessed altar, chandeliers, elaborate dual pulpits, and fascinating side altars.




The downhill return to town from Santa Efigenia. Over the next several days we would visit all the churches and monumental buildings in the second photo below (and more).




View from the Morro São Sebastião Lookout.


The altar of Our Lady of the Conception (1st below) and a portion of the painted ceiling (2nd).




We rented a small house in Ouro Preto that was just below the stairs to the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This was our view each time we left the house (first below). In this church, one could also walk up into the mezzanine (2nd). And at night (3rd).






One morning we walked out and discovered the weekly Thursday Market was just around the corner.




In many of the churches in Minas Gerais the Sacristy is open, and full of luxuries of the past, like this one in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar.


Pillar had painted ceiling panels/chambers, another common feature of the churches here.


The facade of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar.


John loved the elliptical floor plan, cylindrical facade, and round windows of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black Men.






The streets of the historic center, and a shot of the interior of the Casa dos Contos Museum.








We buy some groceries.


Views near the main square.






Parque Horto dos Contos

Brazil: Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos at Congonhas

On the way from Sao Joao del Rei to Ouro Preto, we made a brief stop in Congonhas, which has the added-in-1985 UNESCO Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas. Congonhas was another small gold town. The Sanctuary of Bom Jesus, built in the second half of the 18th-century was modeled on its namesake in Braga, Portugal. See our 2017 blog post here or here. It's the sculptures by Aleijadinho that are the showpieces of Congonhas. We had come across his work in Sao Joao del Rei and Tiradentes, but his polychrome woodcarvings in the chapels of the stations of the cross really captivated us. It finally dawned on us why all the guidebooks rave about Aleijadinho and go on and on about him.

















With lifesize figures, the scenes in the chapels, created between 1796 and 1799, are particularly evocative. And reminded us of the procession figures in Zamora, Spain (click here).









And the adjacent Romaria de Congonhas (Pilgrimage of Congonhas), a site that historically housed visiting pilgrims, is now a cultural center.





Notes to fellow travelers: getting from Sao Joao del Rei to Ouro Preto by bus was not easy without going through Belo Horizonte. Sao Joao del Rei to Congonhas is easy enough. From Congonhas, there is no direct bus to Ouro Preto. From Congonhas, there are two buses a day to Ouro Branco, from which there are three buses a day to Ouro Preto. From Congonhas there are hourly buses to Conselheiro Lafaiete, where there is one bus to Ouro Preto. That bus actually goes through Ouro Branco, but not by the terminal. It stops at the eastern side of the main square.

Brazil: Tiradentes

From Sao Joao del Rei, we visited another gold town less than 10 miles away, Tiradentes, named after the national hero, whose trade was dentistry (tiradentes = teeth pulling), a leading figure in the Inconfidência Mineira, the failed revolutionary movement against Portuguese rule in 1789.

We first took a ride hailing car to Mark Zero of the Estrada Real (Royal Road) where gold was transported during the gold rush. The marker seemed to be in a rather arbitrary location, but surely was "mark zero" of our hike. Parts of the trail were indeed on the old road, with big flagstones. We walked to a viewpoint overlooking the town then walked down into the town. Tiradentes was full of tourists enjoying the Sunday. There happened to be some cultural events at different venues. The place was rather festive.

We had to decide whether to base ourselves in Sao Joao del Rei or Tiradentes. I'm still undecided.

Marco Zero Giant Letters. Plus a group of pilgrims in pink shirts (2nd below) was warming up for a walk on the Royal Road over the hills to Aguas Santas (my guess). Look for the actual "Marco" at the left of that photo.




To start the walk, we took the straight uphill short cut, and it was an hour until we saw the pilgrims again.


After a bit of a scramble, the trail leveled out.






And soon we were walking uphill on the blue flagstones of the Royal Road.




After entering the edge of a controlled burn, we took a right and headed up to a viewpoint of Tiradentes.


And had a snack at the viewpoint.






We then retraced our route and took the left-hander towards Tiradentes.


On the way back down to the Royal Road we saw the pilgrims, in pink, heading over the hill to Aguas Santos.


The signboard where we popped out onto the road at the edge of Tiradentes.


While waiting for the Sunday service at Igreja Matriz de Santo Antônio to conclude, we sat on a bench and enjoyed a well-earned rest. When the service ended, we ate our lunch.


San Antonio was the highlight of Tiradentes.




The classic Tiradentes view from Santo Antônio (1st below) and (2nd below) an awesome photo taken by SL of the church altar. Not to mention Sao Sebastao (3rd).






The ceiling of Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos.




Tiradentes is a tourist town, thus horsecarts and dancers.




Fountain of St. Joseph (Chafariz de São José).


Tiradentes Railway Station.


Bonus: On the bus from Petropolis to São João del Rei