Treasure House of History in Ouro Preto

Founded during the stampede for gold and gems in the eighteenth century, Brazil’s onetime metropolis remains a rich store of art and architecture that is protected as a World Heritage Site.

Ouro Preto lies 61 miles south of Belo Horizonte which succeeded it as the capital of Minas Gerais, the second state in Brazil by size and wealth. “The name means General Mines, and the region came under the military in 1720 because it was honeycombed with diggings for precious metals and gemstones”, explained my guide, Thais Ferreira. “Ouro Preto translates as black gold, because the yellow metal was found in iron oxide.”
 
After two hours’ drive along the rolling highway, we spied Ouro Preto nestling amid the hills some 3,300 feet above sea level. This makes the months of June and July very cold, and even in the southern summertime – November to February – there is rain.

The approach to town is a vista of houses in pastel colours with red tiles and terraced gardens. Before the road has dipped far, several of the 13 baroque or rococo churches are visible, either in valleys or on hilltops. No less than six were named after Our Lady, the most remarkable of them being the aristocratic Carmel whose museum of sacred art vies with that of the Pilar church. St Eugenia’s should be visited not just for its carved wood, but also because the whole of Ouro Preto is stretched out below.
 
The finest church in all Brazil is lofty St Francis (1766) that has vast ceiling frescos and a sumptuous high altar. Outside is a market in soapstone ornaments, but nothing can compare with the sculpture of Aleijadinho, the mulatto Michelangelo of Brazil, who is commemorated in an adjoining museum.
 
Yet there is far more to Ouro Preto than churches, chapels and convents. It is also well-endowed with mansions and fountains as well as bridges over the rivers or inlets
at the bottom of streets that are not just steep but slippery when wet.  Another problem is getting lost amid the twists and turns, as there are few street-signs, and locals ignore the long-winded names for their own short versions.
 
Start in Tiradentes square at the top of the town where the former governor’s bastion is now the School of Mines that houses a mineral collection. On the far side of the cobbled square stands the old townhall that has become the Museum of Betrayal (Museu da Inconfidencia).

Filled with furniture and furnishings from the eighteenth century, it brings to life the turbulent history of Ouro Preto between its foundation in 1711 and its imperial status of 1822. The trouble was that the Portuguese crown demanded at least one-fifth of the gold, although much was lost to smugglers, tax-dodgers and highwaymen. After 500 tons had been extracted, royal greed outdid the yield, provoking a rebellion.

They hanged Tiradentes, the leader, whose defiant statue faces the steps up to the baroque palace. Sadder to see than Queen Maria I’s proclamation of punishment, however, is the dungeon where slaves were chained to iron rings when off duty. The title of a book published in Lisbon in 1801 says it all: Observations on the infirmities of Negroes.

During a gold rush as great as the Klondyke’s, Africans formed the bulk of 110,000 population. They included a whole tribe whose chief, Chico-Rei, eventually bought their freedom and held court as of old.  St Eugenia’s was the slaves’ own church that they built in 1749.

But it was Aleijadinho again who worked on St Joseph’s whereas the Pilar church has the distinction of being the costliest but one church in Brazil with  956 pounds of gold and silver, some of it used in biblical scenes.

In the valley between the churches is the best eating-place for regional dishes, Caffe & Cie. Hot buffet for two, paid by weight, cost the equivalent of five dollars, the Brahma beers being extra. And there was a free view of brightly painted houses climbing the hill at the rear.

Before returning uphill, we visited the old station where a steam locomotive is on show. Then we climbed back up uneven flagstones to see Latin America’s oldest theatre (1711) still in use. The wooden edifice with individual seats and a small gallery is for drama and concerts, as Brazilians are not into opera.

Nearby is the home – it became a museum in 1984 – of a French-born painter, Alberto da Veiga Guignard, who fell in love with Ouro Preto. The curator, Eunice Brandao, told me, “Although he is for connoisseurs, we are popularising him among Brazilians”.

More art is to be found in the former counting-house that combines a gallery and library. And do not forget to buy some rare or even semi-precious stones at the shop to the left of the grim Museum of Betrayal. Before leaving this town frozen in time,the brave will go down the disused Chico-Rei goldmine in the centre of Ouro Preto.

There are more deserted diggings in the region as well as other historic towns such as Diamantina, Mariana and Sao Joao del Rei. One popular excursion is on horseback.

Few travel-agents here know Brazil, and getting there can be problematic, but seek a deal of around ?400 out of Gatwick via Lisbon where a stopover breaks 14 hours in the air to Sao Paulo. Resende’s buses then take eight hours to Belo Horizonte. Its old Gontico Hotel, cheap but safe, is near the same terminus for Ouro Preto and  the information offices of EMBRATUR/BELOTUR where everyone knows Tulio Marques, best contacted at tropaserrana@hotmail.com  

www.brazils-hotels.com/ ouropret_hotels.htm

15 December 2005