Ouro Preto in Brazil
Ouro Preto, named after the black iron oxide-coated gold that was discovered here by the adventurer Antônio Dias, was one of the first of the Minas gold towns to be founded. As a former state capital, it became the wealthiest and most important town in the region. Although it now has a hinterland of ugly blocks of flats and crumbling favelas, it preserves some of the most significant colonial architecture in Brazil and remains, at heart, an 18th-century city of steep church-crowned hills, cobbled streets, azulejos, plazas and fountains. In homage to its historical importance Ouro Preto becomes the capital of Minas Gerais once again every year for one day only, on 24 June. The modern city bustles with young Brazilians studying and partying at the various local universities and has a thriving café and nightlife scene. Sadly the historic centre, once closed to traffic, is now thick with buses and cars, which is taking its toll on some of the beautiful buildings.
Getting thereOuro Preto's
rodoviária
rodoviária
to Praça Tiradentes. Taxis charge exorbitant rates. There are frequent bus connections with Belo Horizonte and daily buses to Rio and São Paulo as well as other cities throughout Minas, including Congonhas, with some buses passing through Conselheiro Lafaiette.
The
tourist office
, www.ouro preto.org.br, has details of accommodation in
casas de família
,
repúblicas
and other places. It also has leaflets showing the opening times of sights, which change frequently, and can organize a local guide from the
Associação de Guias de Turismo
(
AGTOP
),
which has its own office opposite the bus station. Cássio Antunes is a recommended guide.The city has a number of churches and chapels as well as some excellent examples of
chafariz
(public fountains),
passos
(oratories) and stone bridges. The best place to start exploring the city is the central
Praça Tiradentes
, where you'll see a
statue of Tiradentes
, the leader of the Inconfidêntes . Another Inconfidênte, the poet Tomás Antônio Gonzaga, lived at Rua Cláudio Manoel 61 near the São Francisco de Assis church, and was exiled to Africa. Most Brazilians know his poem based on his forbidden love affair with the girl he called
Marília de Dirceu
. Visitors are shown the bridge and decorative fountain where the lovers held their trysts. The house where she lived, on the Largo Marília de Dirceu, is now a school.
On the north side of Praça Tiradentes is a famous
Escola de Minas
(
School of Mining
). It was founded in 1876, is housed in the fortress-like Palácio dos Governadores (1741- 1748) and includes the
Museu de Mineralogia e das Pedras
praça
, towards the
rodoviária
, is the church of
Nossa Senhora das Mercês e Misericórdia
(1773-1793).
On the south side of the
praça
, next to Carmo church, is the
Museu da Inconfidência
The church of
Nossa Senhora do Carmo
,
built 1766-1772, was planned by Manoel Francisco Lisboa, and both his son and Mestre Athayde worked on the project. It was a favourite church of the aristocracy. The best of the city's museums is housed in an annexe of
the church, the modern and well-appointed
Museu do Oratório
as bullet cases. On the opposite side of the road, the
Teatro Municipal
A block north of the theatre,
Casa Guignard
Casa das Contas
Following Rua Teixeira Amaral across the river, the church of
São José
was begun in 1752, but not completed until 1811; some of the carving is by Aleijadinho. Up on the hill,
São Francisco de Paula
, was started in 1804, making it the last colonial church in Ouro Preto. Further west, on the Largo do Rosário, the church of
Nossa Senhora do Rosário
dates from 1785, when the present church replaced a chapel on the site. It has a curved façade, which is rare in Brazilian baroque. The interior is more simple than the exterior, but there are interesting side altars.
One of the city's grandest churches,
Nossa Senhora do Pilar
,
was attended by the Portuguese upper classes. The ceiling painting by João de Carvalhães features a trompe l'oeil effect - as you walk to the front of the church the lamb appears to move from one side of the crucifix to the other - a symbol of the resurrection. Manoel Lisboa, Aleijadinho's father, was responsible for all the carving except the heavily gilded work around the altar, which is by Francisco Xavier de Brito. The
museum
in the church vaults is one of the best in Minas, preserving some stunning gold and silver monstrances and some of Xavier de Brito's finest sculptures, including a wonderful image of Christ.
A block southeast of Praça Tiradentes, on the Largo São Francisco is the grand
São Francisco de Assis
; the ticket also permits entry to NS da Conceição, keep your ticket for admission to the museum
, considered to be one of the masterpieces of Brazilian baroque. Built 1766-1796, Aleijadinho worked on the general design and the sculpture of the façade, the pulpits and many other features. The harmonious lines of the exterior and the beauty of the interior are exceptional; the church feels like a model of Catholic reverence and propriety. It is far from it. Aleijadinho was a mulatto - as were Mestre Athayde's wife and children - and as such they were prohibited from entering white churches like São Francisco, from eating any meat other than offal, ears and trotters and they had no rights in civil society. Mulatto sculptors were not even considered to be artists; they were referred to as artisans or
artistas de sangue sujo
(artists of dirty blood).
The church is full of subtle criticisms of the Portuguese encoded in the art by Athayde and Aleijadinho. The model for the Virgin (depicted in the highest heaven, surrounded by cherubs and musicians and saints Augustine, Hieronymous, Gregory and Ambrosius), is said to have been Mestre Athayde's mulatto wife. She has her breasts showing, open legs and her face shows African traces; all of which can only be noticed with careful attention and all of which would have been anathema to the Portuguese. The
The church is full of subtle criticisms of the Portuguese encoded in the art by Athayde and Aleijadinho. The model for the Virgin (depicted in the highest heaven, surrounded by cherubs and musicians and saints Augustine, Hieronymous, Gregory and Ambrosius), is said to have been Mestre Athayde's mulatto wife. She has her breasts showing, open legs and her face shows African traces; all of which can only be noticed with careful attention and all of which would have been anathema to the Portuguese. The
Last Supper
painting in the sanctuary replaces the apostles with Portuguese feeding on meat and being attended to by Brazilian servants. And Aleijadinho's
Sacred Heart of Jesus
near the altar has its hands and feet cut into quarters in a reference to the fate that befell Tiradentes at the hands of the Portuguese. A
museum
at the back of the church has a small selection of paintings of serious-looking saints and a fountain by Aleijadinho depicting Blind Faith holding up a banner saying “such is the path to heaven”. In the largo outside São Francisco is a handicraft market. South of here, the church of
Nossa Senhora das Mercês e Perdões
Further east,
Nossa Senhora da Conceição
,
was built in 1722 and is the parish church of Antônio Dias (one of the original settlements that became Vila Rica de Albuquerque). It is heavily gilded and contains Aleijadinho's tomb. It has a
museum
devoted to him but with very few of his pieces. Be sure to see the exquisite miniature crucifixion on the basement floor. Across the river, the
Mina do Chico Rei
On the eastern edge of town,
Santa Efigênia
|
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