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Published: January 10th 2011
Sarah @ Church of St Francis of Assisi
Sarah sits before the St Francis of Assisi ChurchOuro Preto is a beautiful old colonial town settled in the hills of Minas Gerais state, about 9 hours North from Sao Paulo. I joked with Sarah that she should have noticed that the locals all had huge calf muscles. We only spent two days in Ouro Preto and it was a significant work out as we walked up and down the many cobblestone hills that form the streets (Ruas) in this beautiful town. The name of the town means ‘black gold’ in Portuguese, referring to the dark clumps of minerals that were mined and that contained the gold. In the 1700s Ouro Preto boomed with the precious commodity, leaving the town with today’s historical treasures—17 beautiful and some quite elaborate churches dispersed throughout the city. At that time, Ouro Preto was the richest Brazilian city and the place where, by order of the crown of Portugal, gold production was brought to be gauged and taxed. Today, people go in search of precious stones, found in the various fine jewelry shops along the steep cobbled streets or simply to stop in the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi—designed by the famous baroque artist Aleijadinho.
Sarah and I really enjoyed our
Over Ouro Preto
We had a lovely view from our hostel... short time here. We walked a lot and wandered in and out of many churches, museums, shops and a few restaurants and bars. While we could not take pictures in the museums or churches, we hope you enjoy the photos that we did take.
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Olavo de Ramalho
non-member comment
Ouro Preto
Muito boas as fotos. Pelo que vejo vc gostou de Ouro Preto, tambem ja estive la'. Muito legal. I was wondering ... o que vc esta comendo? Parece muito gostoso. Um abraco Olavo