Blogs from Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil, South America - page 3

Now this is what i expected when i came to Brazil, Ouro Preto, its a small town in the state of Minas Gerais. After spending a few days in Belo Horizonte, where i was quite sick it was good to see some of the real Brazil. Ouro Preto is dubbed the Village of the Black Gold. It is a former colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains and is a designated World Heritage Site because of its outstanding Baroque architecture. It was a focal point in the gold rush in the 18th Century. The village contains well preserved Colonial architecture, with churches decorated with gold. The weather has been awful though during our stay. Constantly raining, but i can just imagine how beautiful this place is during a hot summers days. We spent ... read more

"Black Gold": this is what Ouro Preto stands for. Not petrol, though. The name derives from the first time gold was discovered in 1694 in the area by a slave of a group of explorers: it was covered with oxidated carbon (oxido do carbono in Portuguese, so not sure exactly whether my translation is correct) and thus looked black. Today, you're in for a bit of history. Ouro Preto, situated in the State of Minas Gerais, is a city of great historical importance to Brazil. Since gold was discovered there, it became centre of great political, economic, and artistic influence. It also fuelled the Portuguese expansion, as the king imposed a 20% tax on all gold revenue and established extremely strict controls on its exploitation. All deposits were to be declared to the authorities, and all ... read more

I have now left Rio de Janeiro, my visit there having been tarnished by an unfortunate event. Yesterday being my last day in Rio, I decided to go into the centre for a visit. Little did I know that the centre is not actually inhabited and simply contains businesses which are closed on Sunday, naturally. Whilst I started walking in some fairly empty streets, a young man, probably younger than myself, walked towards me from bahind and grabbed my bag, pulling me down. As I turned around, his drugged-up face nodded towards a sharp knife he was carrying. Naturally, I let go of my bag, and as he asked for money I told him I had none, which seemed to satisfy him and he walked off with my belongings. Fortunately this was only my smaller bag, ... read more

Hey everyone!! Had the most amazing time in Rio and really didnt want to leave! But had to as its soooo expensive!! Next stop was Salvador but decided to stop off at Ouro Preto on the way, to break up the long journey a bit aswell! Ouro Preto is an old colonial town, really cute and lots of people had recommended stopping off there for a day! So we got the night bus from Rio at 23:30 - it was horrible, got no sleep whatsoever because the bus was absolutely freezing (again) - was prepared this time with fleece, pashmina etc but it was still freezing!! The bus driver also drove like an absolute lunatic - was quite scary! So it probably would have been impossible to get to sleep even if it hadnt been so ... read more

Ouro Preto was the center of gold mining in the 17th century when the Brasilian state of Minas Gerais was found to have the best reserves in the world. The gold that was mined here made its way to Rio via the port in Paraty and then on to Portugal. A friend in Ouro Preto explained how that gold was also funneled to England and funded a significant part of the early industrial revolution in Britain. The town is beautiful with exclusively colonial architecture, narrow cobblestone streets and the majority of Aleijadinho's best known works. Aleijadinho, a Brasilian sculptor and architect who lost his fingers and feet, presumably from leprosy, would strap hammer and chisel to the end of what was left of his hands. Impressive. We stayed at a great hostel and met wonderful people ... read more