Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Igreja de São Francisco de Assis
Av Otacilio Negrao de Lima 3000 • Tues-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 9am-2pm • R$2 •
T
31 3427 1644
The construction of the
Igreja de São Francisco de Assis
, with its striking curves,
azulejo
frontage and elegant bell tower, provides a roll call of the greatest names of Brazilian
modernism: Burle Marx laid out its grounds, Niemeyer designed the church, Cândido
Portinari did the tiles and murals depicting the fourteen Stations of the Cross and
Alfredo Ceschiatti (best known for his gravity-defying angels in Brasília's cathedral)
contributed the bronze baptismal font. The church's design was decades ahead of its
time and it's astonishing to realize that it dates from 1943. So shocked was the
intensely conservative local Catholic hierarchy by the building's daring that the
archbishop refused to consecrate it and almost twenty years passed before Mass could
be held there. Sunday Mass is now held at 10.30am and 6pm - the church is open at
this time, but for worshippers only. Note that it's a 2km walk around the lake from the
Casa do Baile to the church.
2
Casa Kubitschek
Av Otacilio Negrao de Lima 4188 • Tues-Sat 10am-5pm • Free •
T
31 3277 7443,
W
bhfazcultura.pbh.gov.br
President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961,
Juscelino Kubitschek
(1902-76) is Minas
Gerais' favourite son (he's viewed as the father of modern Brazil), starting his rise to
power as mayor of Belo Horizonte in 1940. As the driving force behind the Pampulha
project, it's fitting that Niemeyer designed JK's summer home along the lakeshore in
1943, now converted into a small museum dedicated not to the ex-president but to the
development of Brazil's Modernist architecture from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Museu de Arte da Pampulha (MAP)
Av Otacilio Negrao de Lima 16585 • Tues-Sun 9am-6pm • Free •
T
31 3277 7996,
W
bhfazcultura.pbh.gov.br
Set on a small peninsula jutting out into the northern side of the lake, the
Museu de
Arte da Pampulha
is a product of two geniuses at the height of their powers.
Niemeyer
- influenced here heavily by Le Corbusier - created a boxy-style building typical of
International Modernism, all straight lines and right angles at the front but melting
into rippling curves at the back, with a marvellous use of glass;
Burle Marx
set the
whole thing off beautifully, with an exquisite garden framing the building in front and
at the back. It was completed in 1942 as a casino, but the Brazilian government
INHOTIM INSTITUTO CULTURAL
It comes as a bit of a shock to find the world's largest open-air art museum an hour's bus
journey from Belo Horizonte. But that's exactly what's on offer at
Inhotim Instituto Cultural
,
Rua B, 20
(Tues-Fri 9.30am-4.30pm, Sat & Sun 9.30am-5.30pm; free Tues, Wed-Thurs R$20;
Fri-Sun and holidays R$30;
T
31 3571 9700,
W
inhotim.org.br), an exhibition of four hundred
pieces of contemporary art across ten galleries, set amid an incredible 106 acres of botanical
reserve. Opened o
cially in 2006, the collection includes paintings, sculpture, photos, videos
and installations by both Brazilians and international artists - among them outstanding works
by Hélio Oiticia and Amilcar de Castro - dating from the 1960s to the present. Inhotim's
appeal goes beyond art, however, with
gardens
of orchids, palms and rare tropical species
landscaped by Burle Marx. The huge surrounding estate also boasts one of the best-
preserved sections of Atlantic forest in Brazil.
You'll need a full day (or more) at Inhotim - the site lies 60km southwest of the city. Saritur
(
T
31 3419 1800,
W
saritur.com.br)
buses
leave from the rodoviária in Belo Horizonte at 9.15am
Tues-Sun (R$22.45), arriving at 11am and returning at 4.30pm Tues-Fri and 5pm Sat and Sun.
Saritur also runs three daily buses to Brumadinho (7am, 11am & 3pm; 1hr 35min; R$17.30), a
small town close to the park from where taxis charge around R$15 to Inhotim (only one bus
returns, at 8.35am; R$14.35). A bus service (R$20) exists within the site
to outlying artworks and forest trails.
