Ouro Preto

I think that Ouro Preto has got all the characteristics of an outstanding cultural World Heritage site: it contains architecture and artwork of high aesthetic value; its buildings, roads, and other colonial infrastructure are well preserved and conserved; and it is a setting of important historical events in the country, particularly the Brazilian independence movement. Schoolchildren are taught about its historical significance and many visit as part of their school trips. Additionally, this former center of gold mining enjoys a status of being a popular tourist destination among locals, as Rafabram attests.

I spent two and a half days in Ouro Preto in September 2022. As of Feb 2023, Passaro Verde bus company runs 12 departures per day from Belo Horizonte (2-3 hours). As in previous reviews, visitors must be wary of the town’s terrain and the steep roads could be physically challenging for some. The town is divided into parishes, and one may organize their itinerary by using the churches as the focal point and strolling around the surrounding streets from there. Areas that I have visited are as follows:

1. Praça Tiradentes – the main public square of the town that is surrounded by beautiful buildings. Notable of these buildings is the Museu da Inconfidência, which provides visitors a background to the history of the town. On the other side of the plaza is Museu de Ciência e Técnica da Escola de Minas, which mostly houses natural history, mineralogy, mining collections.
2. Antônio Dias Parish – …

I think Ouro Preto might be sort of an unknown destination for foreign travellers, but among brazilians it's a popular city. It's the model of a historic town in Brazil, declared very early as a national monument, in the 1930's, even before the creation of IPHAN, the institute responsible for the preservation of brazilian cultural heritage. It was one of the first preserved heritages in the country, so Ouro Preto has a long background of actions of preservation and restoration, and it isn't a surprise that it was the first WHS of Brazil. The city is also very related to two figures every brazilian study in history books of elementary school: Tiradentes, the national hero of the failed independence mutiny (the day of his death is a national holiday), and Aleijadinho, the baroque sculptor whose works are an important reason of inscription of the nearby WHS Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas.

I spent three very rainy days in December 2019 there. The streets are steep, some very steep, so not the best weather to walk around the city and its stone paved ways. Because of its hilly location the city doesn't have an orthogonal layout, usual in colonial towns, or even close to it. The map of the city looks like a mess, what makes it fun to explore. The main sights are well signposted, so I didn't get lost. Some buildings have small signs on the facades explaining a bit of the attraction, what is rare in …

In August 2018, I made a day trip by bus from Belo Horizonte to Ouro Preto, a colonial-era town constructed in Brazil’s gold mining area in the 18th century while under Portuguese rule. I spent the day wandering the cobblestoned center, dotted with Baroque churches built with wealth from Brazil’s gold rush. After the gold boom, Ouro Preto was economically isolated for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, which helped preserve its historic buildings and urban pattern. I visited on a Monday, bad news since I couldn't visit the interior of the churches or the museums, but good news since I didn't have to deal with mobs interrupting my photos.

Ouro Preto is a fantastic city, where is possible to see a kind of live that is desapearing in Brazil, a small comunity united by religion, relatives and habits. And more, there are the Art. It's one of the best examples of colonial/ baroque art in Brazil

There is no doubts that Ouro Preto deserves a visit.

The beauty of some churches, specially Nossa Senhora do Pilar and Sao Francisco de Assis, with their mind-boggling golden interiors, and the bucolic early morning views over the town contrasting with the students parties at night offer the visitor a complete pack of culture, South American colonial history and art.

However, Ouro Preto has been preserving its heritage with careleness. First, there is no preservation counciousness, as a historic house in the town's main square recently burned down and a beautiful fountain was destroyed by a truck. Also, the hills surrounding Ouro Preto were dominated by modern and ugly statements, and the once beautiful wide landscapes are now limited to the town itself using the Itacolomi rocks as background.

There are no doubts that Ouro Preto deserves a visit, as it is not so far from big centers like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and the region is packed with other sensational destinations, including other World Heritage sites like Diamantina and Congonhas, but bad use is consuming Ouro Preto's charm and beauty.

Locals here must be in good physical condition: the town´s cobblestoned streets go up and down and up again. These locals can enjoy themselves though, living in such a great city, wonderfully preserved and indeed very homogeneous in its looks.

I stayed here for three days, which is a good period to get to know the place. I visited museums and churches, but wandering around is also great fun. It doesn't matter where you're going, at about every street corner there's a great view.

Some great spots: the Igreja de Sao Francisco de Assis (with Aleidinhija carvings), the Museum de Oratorio, and the view down from the road to Mariana. You can also explore one of the huge old mines (Mina de Pasagem) just outside the town. Which I did, of course, becoming some kind of mining expert after visiting other mining WHS in Blaenavon (Wales) and Spiennes (Belgium).