Tiradentes in Brazil

Aside from Ouro Preto, Tiradentes is the most visited of the Minas colonial towns. Its winding, hilly streets lined with carefully restored baroque Portuguese churches and neat whitewashed cottages huddle around the Santo Antonio river, beneath the rugged hills of the Serra de São José. Inside are art galleries, restaurants, souvenir shops and

, all busy with tourists even during the week. Horse-drawn carriages clatter along the cobbles and at weekends a steam train towing Pullmans full of delighted children puffs its way slowly below the mountains to the pretty colonial town of

.

Tiradentes and São João del Rei lie within less than 30 minutes of each other and there are regular buses. Tiradentes is the more twee; São João is uglier but more of a real town. Tiradentes has a far greater choice of accommodation. São João has better bus connections with Rio, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Mariana and Ouro Preto. The

.

A suggested walking tour is as follows. From the main

,

, take Rua Resende Costa up to the Largo do Sol, a lovely open space where you'll find the simple church of

(mulattos), it has paintings of the four Evangelists and a cornice painted in an elaborate pattern in pink, blue and beige.

Beside the church is the

, the house of this leader of the Inconfidência Mineira, which is now a museum protecting some handsome colonial furniture and a painted roof depicting the Five Senses. The

in the row of 18th-century houses on Rua Padre Toledo, which leads from Largo do Sol to the Igreja Matriz de Santo Antônio, is protected by the same organization.

The

, first built in 1710 and enlarged in 1736, contains some of the finest gilded woodcarvings in the country. The main church is predominantly white and gold. Lamps hang from the beaks of golden eagles. The symbols on the panels painted on the ceiling of the nave are a mixture of Old Testament and medieval Christian symbolism (for instance the phoenix, and the pelican). A carved wooden balustrade separates the seating in the nave from richly carved side chapels and altars. The principal altar is also ornately decorated, as are the walls and ceiling around it. The church has a small but fine organ brought from Porto in the 1790s. The upper part of the reconstructed façade is said to follow a design by Aleijadinho. In front of the church, on the balustrade which overlooks the main street and the town, are also a cross and a sundial by him.

From Santo Antônio, it is well worth taking a detour up to the

. The chapel itself is 18th century while the Room of Miracles associated with the annual Trinity Sunday pilgrimage is modern.

Heading back down past Santo Antônio along Rua da Câmara, you come to the

. Here the road divides, the left-hand street, Jogo de Bola, leads to the Largo do Ó (which rejoins the main street), while Rua da Câmara goes to the crossroads with Rua Direita. At this junction is the

, said to be the oldest building in Tiradentes. It is believed to be where the gold was melted down, and contains many soapstone carvings. It has been beautifully restored as a cultural centre.

Before taking Rua Direita back to Largo das Forras, carry straight on towards the river and cross the bridge to the magnificent

(public fountain), installed in 1749. The water is brought by a stone aqueduct from springs in the forest at the foot of Serra São José. It is still used for drinking, washing and watering animals.

Rua Direita has some interesting old buildings. The charming

has fine statuary and ornate gilded altars. On its painted ceiling colonnades rise to heaven; two monks stand on a hill and the Virgin and Child are in the sky. Other ceiling panels depicting the life of Christ are in poor shape. The church contains statues of black saints, including São Benedito, patron saint of cooks; in one of the statues he is holding a squash. The church dates from 1727, but building by the 'Irmandade dos Pretos Cativos' (black slave brotherhood) began as early as 1708.

Opposite Praça Padre Lourival, is the

(18th-19th century) which now contains the

. Rua Direita meets the Largo das Forras at the

, a two-storey building with an extra room under the roof. It now houses the tourist, post and phone offices.

If you have any energy left, there are other churches and chapels in the town, including the

, on the Largo das Forras. Across the river, the 18th-century

(mid-18th century).

The

A recommended walk from Tiradentes is to the protected forest on the

. The easiest access is from behind the Chafariz, in just five minutes you are in the forest following the watercourse, where monkeys and birds can be seen. Alternatively, you can walk up into the

from behind the Mercês Church; ask for directions. It is recommended that you take a guide if you wish to walk along the top of the Serra.

There is a good one- or two-hour walk from Tiradentes to the

, which involves crossing the Serra. At the

is a swimming pool, a lake and a

,

. A map can be obtained from the

, or ask locally for directions. On the way you pass

, which contains the Cachoeira do Mangue falls. It is busy at weekends and can be reached by car on the old road to São João.