Sabará in Brazil

Some 23 km east of Belo Horizonte is the colonial gold-mining (and steel-making) town of Sabará. The town is strung along the narrow steep valleys of the Rio das Velhas and Rio Sabará. Since the late 17th century, the Rio das Velhas was known as a gold-bearing river and a community soon grew up there. By 1702 it was the most populous in Minas Gerais. In 1711, the name Villa Real de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Sabará was given to the parish and in 1838 it became the city of Sabará.

Ins and outs

There are regular buses from Belo Horizonte. If travelling by car, there is a road, mostly unpaved, that runs to Sabará from Ravena on the BR-381 Belo Horizonte-Vitória highway, which crosses the hills and is a pleasant drive. Tourist information is available from the

Secretaria de Turism

. Passeio a Sabará

, by Lúcia Machado de Almeida, with splendid illustrations by Guignard, is an excellent guide to the town.

Sights

There are a number of old churches, fountains, rambling cobbled streets and simple houses with carved doors of great interest. From the bus terminus, walk up Rua Clemente Faria to Praça Santa Rita, where there's a large

chafariz

(fountain). The square adjoins Rua Dom Pedro II, which is lined with beautiful 18th-century buildings. They include the

Solar do Padre Correa

, (1773) now the Prefeitura, a mansion with a rococo chapel and

salão nobre

(main reception room); the

Casa Azul

(1773), now the INSS building, with a chapel and a fine portal; and the

Teatro Municipal

, former opera house, built in 1770 and the second oldest in Brazil. It has a superb interior, with three balconies, a carved wooden rail before the orchestra pit, wooden floors and

esteiro

(flattened, woven bamboo) ceilings.

At the top of Rua Dom Pedro II is the Praça Melo Viana, in the middle of which is

Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos

, left unfinished at the

time of the slaves' emancipation. Behind the façade of the building are the chancel, sacristy (both 1780) and the first chapel (1713). There is a museum of religious art in the church. To the right of the church is the

Chafariz do Rosário

. Also on the

praça

are the ornate Fórum Ministro Orozimbo Nonato and two schools. From Praça Melo Viana, take Rua São Pedro to the church of

São Francisco

(1781); beyond the church is the

Chafariz Kaquende

In Rua da Intendência is the museum of 18th-century gold mining, the

Museu do Ouro

. It contains exhibits of gold extraction, as well as religious items and colonial furniture. The building itself is a fine example of colonial architecture. Sources disagree as to its date of construction, but the general view is that it was before 1730. Originally the foundry, it became the Casa da Intendência in 1735. For most of the 19th century it was abandoned and became the gold museum in 1945.

Another fine example of civil colonial architecture is the

Casa Borba Gato

, so called because tradition has it that it belonged to the famous

bandeirante

, Manoel de Borba Gato, one of the first to settle on the Rio das Velhas, but exiled from the region after the murder of the king's representative, Rodrigo de Castel Blanco in 1682. The building currently belongs to the Museu do Ouro.

On Rua do Carmo is the church of

Nossa Senhora do Carmo

, (1763-1774), with doorway, pulpits and choir loft by Aleijadinho and paintings by Athayde. From the ceilings, painted blue and grey and gold, religious figures look down surrounding the Virgin and Child and the Chariot of Fire. In the chancel, the Ten Commandments in blue work have a distinctly Moorish air, what with the tents and the night-time scenes.

Similar in style externally is the

Capela de Nossa Senhora do Pilar

, which is beside the municipal cemetery and in front of a large building with blue gates and doors.

Nossa Senhora da Conceição

, (1720), has a lot of visible woodwork and a beautiful floor. The carvings have a great deal of gilding, there are painted panels, and paintings by 23 Chinese artists brought from Macau. The clearest Chinese work is on the two red doors to the right and left of the chancel.

Nossa Senhora do Ó

, built in 1717 and showing unmistakable Chinese influence (paintings in need of restoration), is 2 km from the centre of the town at the Largo Nossa Senhora do Ó. To get there, take the local bus marked 'Esplanada' or 'Boca Grande'.

If you walk up the

Morro da Cruz

hill from the

Hotel do Ouro

to a small chapel, the

Capela da Cruz

, or Senhor Bom Jesus, you can get a wonderful view of the whole region. Look for beautiful quartz crystals while you are up there.

Excursions from Sabará

Some 25 km from Sabará and 60 km from Belo Horizonte is

Caeté

. The town, originally called Vila Nova da Rainha, has several historical buildings and churches. On the Praça João Pinheiro are the

Prefeitura

and

Pelourinho

(both 1722), the

Igreja Matriz Nossa Senhora do Com Sucesso

, (1756, rebuilt 1790) and the

Chafariz da Matriz

. Also on the

praça

is the

tourist information office

. Other churches are

Nossa Senhora do Rosário

(1750-1768), with a ceiling attributed to Mestre Athayde, and

São Francisco de Assis

. The

Museu Regional

, in the house of the Barão de Catas Altas, or Casa Setecentista, contains 18th- and 19th-century

religious art and furniture. The house itself is a fine example of 18th-century civic architecture, with two floors and an interior patio. From Caeté you can go to the

Serra da Piedade

mountains.

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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