CENTRAL WEST BRAZIL - Brazil - page 302

Pirenópolis 2
The picturesque town of Pirenópolis is gathered around
the Rio das Almas, surrounded by verdant cerrado
woodlands, and tucked away at the feet of low ragged
hills. Pirenópolis skilfully balances the old and the new,
the traditional and the contemporary. Crowned by
Portuguese Baroque churches, the cobbled streets
clatter to the sound of cowboys on horseback. They are
lined with chic little restaurants, housed in rustic 18th-
century bungalows, or designed in low-key 20th-
century Art Deco style. The entire historical center can
be walked around in less than two hours. There are
only a few streets - the principal ones being Rua
Direita, Rua da Aurora, Rua do Bonfim, and Rua do
Rosário, which has the bulk of the restaurants. At week-
ends, a bustling crowd from Brasília fills up the streets.

Display of costumes from the Festa
do Divino, Museu das Cavalhadas

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Museu das Cavalhadas
Rua Direita 39.

# 8am-8pm

daily. &

This small museum contains
an incredible display of
Carnaval masks, ornate metal
armor costumes, photographs,
and folklore relating to the
hugely popular Festa do Divino
Espírito Santo. The festival was
originally Portuguese but the
court costumes and the animal
masks are uniquely Brazilian,
originating from Afro-Brazilian
and indigenous customs. The
collection occupies the ground
floor of a home belonging to a
family which has for genera-
tions played a central role in
performances at the festival.

Souvenir shops selling traditional handicrafts on Rua Rui Barbosa

R

Igreja Nosso
Senhor do Bonfim
Praça do Bonfim.

façade. The image of Nosso
Senhor do Bonfim, in the
main altarpiece, was brought
here from Salvador by a
convoy of 250 slaves.

check with
tourist office before visiting.
This simple but elegant little
church on Rua do Bonfim
was built between 1750 and
1754. One of the best-
preserved churches in Goiás,
this modest Baroque church
is architecturally similar to
Matriz de Nossa Senhora do
Rosário and has a plain white

#

E

Museu da Família Pompeu
Rua Nova 31. Tel [phone] .
#

R

Igreja Matriz de Nossa
Senhora do Rosário
Rua Do Rosário.

call ahead to arrange a visit.
Set up in a corridor inside
a large 18th-century house,
this tiny museum displays
regional historical items,
including an odd collec-
tion of colonial bric-a-
brac, furniture,
Dickensian shelves
of old documents,
municipal newsletters,
an old printing press,
and silver jewelry. The
museum preserves the
most comprehensive
and well-maintained
records of the early
years of the colonial
town of Pirenópolis,
including pictures and docu-
ments from its gold-mining
days. The Pompeu family
does not reside here. There
is a proposal to turn this
treasure-house into a public
municipal museum.

check with
tourist office before visiting.
This parish church, founded
in 1728, is the largest and
the oldest ecclesiastical
building in Goiás. Until
2002, when the entire
attractive colonial edi-
fice was gutted in a
fierce fire, it also had
one of the finest
Baroque interiors in
the state. The church
boasted an altarpiece
decorated with motifs
taken from the flora
of the surrounding
cerrado, and an
impressive ceiling painted
by the Brazilian artist, Inácio
Pereira Leal, in 1864. The
church was restored and
opened anew in 2006, but
a shortage of funds has left
it with a plain interior.

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Museu da
Família Pompeu

The well-maintained Igreja Nosso
Senhor do Bonfim

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp384-5 and p409