History, Diamonds and Gold

For the traveller, Minas presents a welcome contrast
to the rest of Brazil. Nestled in the Serra do Espinhaço
are the historic colonial cities which grew up with the
great gold boom. Their baroque churches and sacred
art represent over half of Brazil's national monuments.

The state of Minas Gerais is as large as France, part of a vast plateau that crosses Brazil's interior. Rising along the state's southern border with Rio and São Paulo is the Serra da Mantiqueira, with some of Brazil's highest peaks. These mountains stalled the development of Minas Gerais until the gold boom at the beginning of the 18th century. Running south to north, from São João del Rei through Ouro Preto and past Diamantina, is the Serra do Espinhaço, Brazil's oldest geological formation. This range separates Minas' two principal river systems: the great São Francisco to the west and the Rio Doce to the east.

Minas has good roads but travel is usually a sinuous affair. Much of the terrain is characterised by hills deep valleys and plateaus running off the larger mountains. Because of the plentiful rains, the south, east and much of the centre were once thickly forested, but the land has been cleared for mining and agriculture and, today, there is little forest left. In the rainy season the land is still green, but forests are pretty much limited to Minas' several large parks and reserves. The northern extension of the state is sertão and less populated than the rest of Minas. It's an arid land, with shrublike trees that look dead during the dry season but quickly regain their foliage when it rains. The most common tree is the pepper tree (aroeira).

The foothills and streams of these mountains were scoured for gold throughout the 18^th century. Minas' exquisite colonial towns are seemingly frozen in another epoch. Their baroque churches and sacred art—mostly sculptures from one of the world's great artists, Aleijadinho—represent over half of Brazil's national monuments.

Minas also has several hydromineral spas in the mountainous southwest corner and a number of prehistoric caves close to the capital, Belo Horizonte. Founded as recently as 1897, Belo Horizonte is Brazil's third largest city. While residents often speak well of this sprawling place, there is little beauty, natural or otherwise, to stimulate the visitor.

The major historical cities are clustered in three spots along the Serra do Espinhaço range: São João del Rei, with Tiradentes and Prados nearby, is 200 km south of Belo Horizonte; Ouro Preto and Mariana are 100 km southeast of Belo Horizonte; and Diamantina, with Serro further down the road, is 290 km north of Belo Horizonte.

Ouro Preto, declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO, has more of everything than any city in Brazil—more homogeneous baroque architecture, more churches, more Aleijadinho, more museums and more fame. It also has more tourists, more traffic, more boutiques, more locals hawking things to visitors and more expensive hotels and restaurants. If you go to Ouro Preto and don't have time to visit the other clusters of historic cities, be sure to visit nearby Mariana, which remains less affected by tourism.

It's hard to tell anyone to bypass Ouro Preto, and if you really like colonial or baroque art and architecture, or the sculpture of Aleijadinho and churches, then you definitely should go there. But if your time is limited and your visit is during the peak tourist season, it's worth considering spending more time at some of the other historic cities and less time at Ouro Preto.

Diamantina has the fewest tourists and is the most tranquil of the region's historic cities. Its many buildings form a beautiful display of colonial architecture. São João and Tiradentes are a good combination to visit: the former has several churches and works of Aleijadinho in a small lively city with little tourism, and the latter is a tiny colonial town untouched by time and a perfect place in which to relax and reflect.

The mystery card when shuffling around your itinerary is the town of Congonhas. It's a couple of hours' bus ride from Belo Horizonte, São João or Ouro Preto. Bus connections between Congonhas and São João or Ouro Preto are inconvenient, and there is one, and only one, attraction: the Prophets, the masterpiece of Aleijadinho. You need just a few hours to view the statues at the basilica, but it's an inspirational sight and well worth the trouble.

History

No one really knows when gold was first discovered in the backwoods of Minas Gerais. But sometime around 1695, bandeirantes (groups of explorers from São Paulo in search of Indian slaves and precious metals) saw gold along the banks and in the beds of rivers flowing from Brazil's oldest mountains. The gold deposits were called faisqueiras (sparkles) because the larger pieces were actually visible—all the miners had to do was pick them up.

Soon the word was out. Brazilians flocked to Minas Gerais and Portuguese immigrated to Brazil. The two groups soon fought over land claims in the Guerra dos Emboabas. Slaves were brought from the sugar fields of Bahia and the savannahs of Angola, as few whites did their own mining. Until the last quarter of the 18th century, the slaves of Minas Gerais were digging up half the world's gold.

Over 100 years before the Californian and Australian gold rushes, Brazil's gold rush was just as crazy, wild and violent. Disease and famine were rampant. The mine towns were known for their licentiousness, and prostitutes such as the famous Chica da Silva in Diamantina have been immortalized in the cinema.

Merchants and colonial officials became rich, as did a few gold miners. Gold siphoned off to Portugal ended up feeding England's Industrial Revolution, and so the only lasting benefits to come to Brazil were the development of Rio de Janeiro (the main port for the gold) and the creation of the beautiful, churchclad mining cities that dot the hills of Minas Gerais. Ouro Preto was the most splendid of these. Vila Rica de Ouro Preto (Rich Town of Black Gold), as it was known, grew to 100,000 people and became the richest city in the New World.

Climate

Minas Gerais has two distinct seasons: wet from October to February and dry from March to September. The rainy season is characterized by almost daily downpours, but they rarely last for long, and although it is warm, it's still much cooler than the heat of Rio. The dry season is cool, and from July to September it can actually get cold. There is often fog during September and October.

Even during the rainy season, travel—with umbrella—is quite practical, with one proviso: from December to February, Ouro Preto is deluged by tourists, who can be more of a nuisance than the rain.

Economy

Minas Gerais (General Mines) wears its name well, producing more iron, tin, diamonds, zinc, quartz and phosphates than any other state in Brazil. It has one of the world's largest reserves of iron. The state's industrial growth rate has been well above the national average over the past few years, and Minas Gerais should soon pass Rio de Janeiro as Brazil's secondmost powerful economy, behind São Paulo. Belo Horizonte is the site of a large Fiat automobile plant.

Minas is also known for its high milk and cheese production. The agricultural sector is diverse and strong, with fruit and cattle important as well.

BELO HORIZONTE

Belô is the capital of mineral rich Minas Gerais state. It's a rapidly industrializing city, founded in 1897 and already the third largest in the country. A planned city, Belô is a giant sprawling affair surrounded by hills which lock in the thick, greyblack layers of smog. There is nothing of special interest for the visitor; most travellers who stop here are on their way to Ouro Preto or Diamantina, with perhaps the occasional soul heading to Brasília.

Most travellers, as soon as they hit the historical cities, regret having spent any time at all in Belo Horizonte. But if you find yourself here with time to spare, there are a couple of museums worth a visit.

Information

Tourist Office

Belotur, the municipal tourist organization, puts out an excellent monthly guide in Portuguese, English and French. It's very comprehensive, listing not only the main tourist attractions but also how to get there using local buses. It includes flight times, detailed longdistance bus schedules and everything else you wanted to know about Belo Horizonte but didn't know how to ask.

Belotur has booths at Confins airport (open daily from 8 am to 6 pm), in front of the Parque Municipal (open on weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm and on weekends from 8 am to 4 pm) and at the rodoviária (open the same hours as the park booth). Staff speak a bit of English and can also supply you with state tourist information.

Money

Change money at the Banco do Brasil, Rua Rio de Janeiro 750, close to Praça Sete. It opens at 10 am and stays open during lunch. There are lots of other banks and câmbios in the city center—try Nascente Turismo, at Rua Rio de Janeiro 1101. Câmbios usually open at 11 am.

Post & Telephone

The main post office is at Avenida Afonso Pena 1270, but there's one at the rodoviária, too. Telemig has telephone posts at Rua dos Tamoios 311, at the rodoviária and at Confins airport.

Museu de Mineralogia

There are 5000 specimens here in a curious gothic building at Rua da Bahia 1149. The displays include replicas of all the world's largest diamonds, meteorites and rough diamonds, and some of the largest crystals you'll ever see. It's open daily from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm.

Museu Histórico Abílio Barreto

In an old colonial farmhouse, this museum is all that remains of the town of Curral del Rey, on which Belo Horizonte was built. It contains a fascinating archive of old photographs, as well as other assorted historical bricabrac. The museum is at Rua Bernardo Mascarenhas, in Cidade Jardim, and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. To get there, take a No 8902 bus marked `Luxemburgo/Sagrada Família' from the stop on Avenida Amazonas between Rua dos Tupinambás and Avenida Afonso Pena.

Pampulha

Fans of architect Oscar Niemeyer won't want to miss his creations in the suburb of Pampulha, in the north of the city, around a large lake, but others may be disappointed. The area has an unkempt feel about it. There's the Igreja de São Francisco de Assis, built in the 1940s, and the Museu de Arte de Belo Horizonte, among others. To get there, take the No 2004 `Bandeirantes/Olhos/ d'Agua' bus. Be prepared to do a bit of walking once you arrive.

Gruta de Maquiné

An interesting and popular day trip from Belo Horizonte is to the Gruta de Maquiné, the most famous of Minas' many caves. Its seven huge chambers are well lit to allow guided tours to pass through. A bus to the caves departs from the rodoviária every day at 9.15 am and returns at 3 pm, which gives you ample viewing time. The trip costs $4. There are cafés at the cave: Chero's is recommended; their comida mineira is quite cheap.

Rio São Francisco River Trip

Trips can be arranged in Belo Horizonte for passage on the paddlesteamer Benjamin Guimarães, which still travels on the river between Pirapora (around 320 km north of Belo Horizonte) and the small town of São Francisco.

The Benjamin Guimarães has 12 cabins and a bar/restaurant on board. The fiveday tourist trip begins every Sunday and costs $500 per person, which includes the bus fare from Belo Horizonte to Pirapora.

For Places to Stay and to Eat, read the book.

Entertainment

The Belotur monthly guide has a good listing of discos. Right near the central hotels on Praça Sete is the Restaurante Praça Sete. It has a beerhall atmosphere, with good local music from 10 pm to 3 am. If you can stand the horrible sound system, it's fun.

Things to Buy

The Centro de Artesanato Mineiro at Avenida Afonso Pena 1537, Palácio das Artes (at the edge of the Parque Municipal), is a government store with a varied assortment of mineiro crafts: ceramics, jewellery, tapestries, rugs, quilts and soapstone sculptures. It's open on Saturday from 9 am to 8.45 pm and on Sunday from 9 am to 1.45 pm.

The Gem Center is not far from the municipal park, at Avenida Álvares Cabral 45. Around 20 reputable gem dealers have small shops in the building.

A huge Feira de Arte e Artesanato is held on Sunday from 9 am to 1 pm on Avenida Afonso Pena between Rua da Bahia and Rua dos Guajajaras, with good food and local crafts. If you're around, check it out.

Getting There & Away

Air

Belo Horizonte is connected to reach Rio and São Paulo by frequent onehour VASP/Cruzeiro/Transbrasil ponte aerea (airbridge) flights. There are daily flights from Belô to just about anywhere in Brazil.

Bus

Buses take seven hours to Rio ($7), 9½ hours to São Paulo ($15), 12 hours to Brasília ($20) and around 22 hours to Salvador ($35). Buses leave every hour for Ouro Preto, the first at 7 am and the last at 8.15 pm. The trip takes 1¾ hours and costs $4.

There are eight buses a day to Mariana, from 6 am to 11 pm. The twohour trip costs $4.50. Six daily go to Diamantina ($10, 5½ hours), the first at 5.30 am and the last at midnight. Seven daily go to São João del Rei, the first at 6.15 am and the last at 7 pm. From 5 am to midnight, buses run to Sabará every 15 minutes; catch them downstairs at the local bus section of the rodoviária.

If you're heading to the mineral spring resorts, there are four buses a day to Poços de Caldas ($24), two to Caxambu ($7), at 7.30 am and 11 pm, and three to São Lourenço ($8), at 12.30 am, and 3 and 9.30 pm.

Getting Around

To/From the Airport

Belo Horizonte has two airports. Most planes use the new international Aeroporto Confins (also known as Aeroporto Tancredo Neves), which is 40 km from the city. The closer, sleepy Aeroporto da Pampulha handles some of the Rio and São Paulo shuttle flights.

The best way to get to the airport is by bus from the rodoviária. There's a conventional bus that leaves every halfhour to an hour (depending on the time), between 4.45 am and 10.45 pm; the trip costs $1.50. Even though it's not advertised, this bus will stop at Aeroporto da Pampulha on the way to Aeroporto Confins—but make sure the driver knows your destination.

There is also an aircon executivo bus ($4). It leaves from the executivo terminal at Praça Raoul Soares every 45 minutes to an hour between 5.15 am and 9.45 pm.

Excerpts from Brazil - A Travel Survival Kit, 3rd edition, by Andrew Draffen, Chris McAsey, Leonardo Pinheiro,  and Robyn Jones. For more information call Lonely Planet: (800) 275-8555. Copyright 1996 Lonely Planet Publications. Used by permission.

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