Cidade de Goiás (Goiás Velho) in Brazil

This delightful town, nestled in the midst of

cerrado

-covered ridges, is one of central Brazil's hidden beauties. Cobbled streets lined with colourful yellow and blue Portuguese buildings gather around a little river watched over by a collection of elegantly simple baroque churches. Horses and old VWs clatter along the heavy stone flags and the local residents go about their day-to-day business as they always have done, treating visitors like guests or curiosities rather than tourists.

The town was founded in 1727 as Vila Boa and, like its Minas counterparts, became rich on gold, before becoming the capital of Goiás state, which it remained until just before the Second World War. But while towns like Ouro Preto and Tiradentes lavished their churches in gilt, Goiás chose modesty, erecting simple façades whose more classical lines stand strong against the intense blue of the sky. Interiors, too, were plain with simple panelling that beautifully offset both the richly painted wooden ceilings and the virtuoso sculpture of the

Goiás Aleijadinho

by Veiga Valle.

Ins and outs

Cidade de Goiás is well connected by bus with Goiânia, 130 km away, but there are few services from anywhere else. The

rodoviária

, is 2 km out of town. All buses also stop at the

rodoviária velha

(old bus station) next to the Mercado Municipal, 500 m west of the central Praça do Coreto. The

tourist office

, is housed in the Quartel

do Vinte, a former barracks where many of the German soldiers who fought in the Paraguayan

war were housed. The Museu Casa de Cora Coralina is a better source of information.

Sights

The most interesting streets in the colonial part of town spread out from the two principal

praças

Praça Brasil Caiado

and immediately below it towards the river

Praça do Coreto

. The former is dominated by the Chafariz de Cauda, a lavish baroque fountain, which once supplied all the town's water. The best of the churches and museums are in the small cobbled town centre that radiates out from the two central plazas and spreads a little way along the riverbank. It is easily navigable on foot. The oldest church,

São Francisco de Paula

, built in 1763, sits on a platform overlooking the market and the Rio Vermelho. It has a beautiful 19th-century painted ceiling by André Antônio da Conceição, depicting the life of St Francis de Paula.

Nossa Senhora da Abadia

has a similarly understated but impressive painted ceiling, while the other

18th-century churches like

Nossa Senhora do Carmo

, on the riverside, and

Santa Bárbara

, are almost Protestant in their simplicity. The latter sits on a hill a kilometre or so east of the town from where there are wonderful sunset views.

Cidade de Goiás has a handful of interesting museums. The

Museu das Bandeiras

, was once the centre of local government. The museum tells the story

of the Goiás Bandeira exhibitions, which sit over a small but forbidding dungeon. The former governor's palace, the

Palácio Conde dos Arcos

, sits in the square below Praça Brasil Caiado and was the governor's palace before the state capital moved to Goiânia. It has a display of 19th- century furniture, portraits of all the governors, and a pretty little walled garden. Across the way the

Museu de Artes Sacras

, houses some clunky 18th-century church silverware and a series of painted wooden statues by one of Brazil's most important religious sculptors, José Joaquim da Veiga Valle. Veiga Valle was entirely self taught and had little knowledge or access to the Latin American baroque style that he was later seen to represent. Look out for the double 'V' signatures in the patterns of the fingers and the uncannily realistic stained-glass eyes.

From Praça do Coreto, a stroll downhill and across the river, will bring you to the

Museu Casa de Cora Coralina

, the former home of Goiás's most respected writer, with a collection of her belongings and a beautifully kept riverside garden at the back. Staff here are extremely helpful and knowledgeable about the city, though they speak no English. The 18th-century

Mercado Municipal

, next to the old

rodoviária

, is a wonderful spot for a snack and photography. All manner of interesting characters gather here and the small stall shops sell everything from shanks of beef to Catholic kitsch.

Espaço Cultural Goiandira do Couto

, has chocolate box-style paintings of the city made entirely from different coloured sands from the surrounding

serra

. The artist, now in her 90s, has exhibited all over the world.

This is edited copy from Footprint Handbooks. For comprehensive details (incl address, tel no, directions, opening times and prices) please refer to book or individual chapter PDF

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