Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MINAS GERAIS
T
he state of Minas Gerais is dotted with pretty colonial towns, set
in a stunning landscape of rugged hills. Of these, Ouro Preto,
Congonhas, and Diamantina are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Beyond the towns is pastoral country broken by wilderness, much of
which has been protected by a series of national and state parks, where
several rare species of animals, birds, and plants can be seen.
Minas's old mining towns
are laid out along the
Estrada Real, once Brazil's
first great wagon trail and
now one of its major tourist routes.
The most famous is Ouro Preto,
named after the black gold that
was discovered here in the late 17th
century by an itinerant adventurer
(
bandeirante
), who came through the
vast interior in search of slaves. Gold
brought a rush of speculators and
new discoveries and by the mid-18th-
century ramshackle mining camps
had grown into prosperous towns.
Today, Ouro Preto, Tiradentes,
Mariana, São João del Rei, Congonhas,
and Diamantina preserve some of
the finest ecclesiastical buildings and
Baroque carvings in the Americas.
The state's spectacular parks are
home to the maned wolf, as well as
a plethora of endemic birds and
plants. The Serra do Cipó and the
Serra da Canastra lie on the
tablelands of the Brazilian
shield. Their
cerrado
forests
are cut by several rivers that
plunge dramatically over the
edges of the
mesetas
(tabletop
mountains), forming some of the
world's highest waterfalls. The
mountains of the Serra do Caparaó
protect a swathe of the Mata Atlântica,
dripping with orchids and the habitat
of one of the few remaining popu-
lations of woolly spider monkey - the
Americas' largest and rarest primate.
The state capital, Belo Horizonte, is
a modern industrial city with a
lively café life. President Juscelino
Kubitschek's favorite architect, Oscar
Niemeyer, adorned the city's
Pampulha neighborhood with several
structures before building the nation's
capital, Brasília. Minas is also well
known for its distinct cuisine and its
rich literary and musical heritage.
A breathtaking view of mauve
ipê
flowers in full bloom outside Diamantina
Enchanting Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, towering above the colonial town of Ouro Preto
