The Part of Brazil I Needed to See – Part 2 – Ouro Preto

I can’t believe it has been a full week since my return from Minas Gerais. I haven’t even gotten around to sharing my experiences in Ouro Preto, the best part. Not to say that Belo Horizonte wasn’t great, but Ouro Preto, well, it was awesome.


When we first started walking along the narrow, cobblestone streets it instantly reminded me of Prague. That is, if Prague Old Town hadn’t been full of massive amounts of tourists and tacky souvenir shops when I visited.

That’s not to say that Ouro Preto didn’t have its minor inconveniences too. For example, the crazy drivers barreling down the narrow, one-way roads each time I stopped to take a picture. I couldn’t help but think how awesome it would be if they closed the roads to traffic and used a trolley to take people up and down the hills.

Oh wait, did I mention the hills? Man, there were hills! Probably the steepest of any place I have visited (which was a city and not specifically a mountain hike). They certainly added to the city’s charm, except of course, when you were huffing and puffing up them. Thank goodness it wasn’t too hot yet.

After being in Ouro Preto about a half hour I realized why my host was so caught up on seeing everything we wanted to see on one side of the Praça Tiradentes (the square or plaza in the center of town) before venturing to the other. It was because the Praça is at the top of the hill and both sides are downhill. So once you go down to see one and make the trek back up to the center you sure as heck aren’t going back down that side again!

I made it of course, and despite my break from running during my trip, they helped me to avoid feeling bad about the massive amounts of Minas food I consumed at lunch. Thank you, hill workout.

We stopped at a cool little place called Chafariz for a meal that started with house cachaça and Caldo Verde (soup with collard greens, potatoes and pork) served in a soap stone (Pedra Sabão) bowl.

It was followed by a buffet of foods specific to Minas Gerais such as Feijão Tropeiro (beans, farofa, fried egg, garlic, onion, bacon and sausage), Frango com Quiabo (chicken with okra) Frango ao Molho Pardo (chicken in brown sauce which is actually blood sauce). And yes, I tried the last one because what kind of world foodie would I be if I didn’t at least try it. Good, but just like the pig ears, couldn’t sit down to a whole plate.

Okay, I got a little side tracked with food and exercise. Rewinding to the start of our day.

I snapped a quick picture of the church of St. Francis of Assisi, then we headed down to the sanctuary of Nossa Senhora da Conceição which also held the museum of Aleijadinho, or Antônio Francisco Lisbôa, an 18th century sculptor who developed a degenerative disease mid-life leaving his hands disfigured yet he continued to sculpt beautiful works of art. (Unfortunately, no pictures in the museums.)

On our walk back up the hill we stopped at the fair so I could pick up some souvenirs carved out of soap stone from the area.

Our next church stop was the Nossa Senhora do Pilar. I am told this one of the only, if not the only, church that has undergone restoration. I have to say that after seeing churches of Europe, these didn’t seem quite as impressive. There was beautiful detail and the inside was covered in gold leaf, but unfortunately the funds aren’t there to afford the upkeep. On the other hand, I found the outside of the churches to be gorgeous with beautiful architectural detail.

Other visits included the Casa dos Contos which featured a pictorial view of all the Brazilian currencies that everyone is always telling about. It also allowed a tour of historic slave quarters. That’s always such an eerie, saddening thing to witness, but I feel very important to understand just how badly human beings were treated (and in some places still are).

The next stop was the mineral museum with stunning gem stones from the area. Given my interest in gems as an adult I really think I could have made a career out of staring at those beautiful things.

We finally wrapped up the trip with a walk through the Museum Inconfidência where I was able to fill my brain with all kinds of facts about the uprising and Tiradentes (had no idea that term was a nickname which means ‘tooth puller’ until my visit, by the way.)

I learned more about Brazil’s history in eight hours by visiting Ouro Preto than I have in two years of living here. At the same time, as beneficial as all that knowledge is I have to say that I was most impressed by simply the city itself. Words and pictures can’t describe the beauty of the landscape in the area - the rolling hills and mountains behind historic buildings, and being fortunate with good weather, the bright blue skies that made my pictures pop with brilliant light.

Looking back I find myself not wanting to visit more monuments and museums, but wanting to have the opportunity to sit and soak it all in. I could have stared at that landscape forever. A beautiful place that Ouro Preto.