Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
FEEDING THE RED WOLVES
The surprisingly isolated
Parque Natural do Caraça
lies just 100km southeast of Belo
Horizonte on winding roads, a protected section of the rugged Sierra do Espinhaço best
known for the
Santuário do Caraça
(daily 8am-5pm; R$10) at its heart, a former Catholic
seminary and school. The school was founded on the site of a 1774 hermitage in the 1820s,
and for 150 years educated the upper classes of Minas Gerais, including generations of
Brazilian politicians. In 1968 a fire destroyed much of the building, and today what remains
serves as a spartan church-run
pousada
(see below).
The Neogothic church of
Nossa Senhora Mãe dos Homens
, added in 1883, was also spared
by the fire, and has beautiful French stained-glass windows, marble and soapstone carvings and a
seven-hundred-pipe organ built in the seminary itself. A small
museum
is attached to the church
and displays items rescued from the fire, including English and Chinese porcelain and furniture.
The major attraction here, however, is the
maned wolves
(
lobo-guará
) that live in the
surrounding woods (they look like large foxes with reddish fur) - there's a long-standing
(though extremely dubious from an ecological point of view) tradition of monks leaving food
for them near the church at night (guests are permitted to watch, but if the crowd is big they'll
stay away). There are also plenty of
signed walks
of varying di
culty on the tracks through
the mountains - information is available from the hotel. The nearby lake (
Banho do Belchior
)
provides a good opportunity for swimming from its small beaches and there are also several
natural pools by the waterfalls within the park.
The park lies at the end of a well-surfaced and signposted road 20km south of the MG-129
between Barão de Cocais and Santa Barbara; without a car you'll have to take a 2hr journey by
bus from Belo Horizonte to Barão de Cocais (every 2hr, 6am-8.30am; R$28.55;
W
passaroverde
.com.br), and then take a taxi the rest of the way (at least R$90; call
T
31 3837 1812).
Pousada do Caraça
Complexo Santuário do Caraça,
Serra do Caraça
T
31 3837 2698,
W
santuariodocaraca
.com.br.
The old
colegio
offers a wide range of clean but
basic accommodation in various buildings (no a/c,
2
TV or wi-fi) with all meals provided. The cheapest is the
dorm-like Casa da Porte, but doubles with bathrooms
are m
uch
more ex
pensive
. Reservations essential.
Dorms
R$82
; doubles
R$175
The cidades históricas
he
CIDADES HISTÓRICAS
- “historic towns” - of Minas Gerais were all founded within
a couple of decades in the early eighteenth century, and today form one of the most
enticing regions in Brazil. Rough and violent mining camps in their early days, mineral
wealth soon transformed them into treasure houses, not merely of gold, but also of
Baroque art and architecture. Well preserved and carefully maintained, they form one
of the most impressive sets of colonial remains in the Americas, comparable only to the
silver-mining towns that flourished in Mexico at roughly the same time.
Although they have acquired a modern urban fringe, all the historic cities have centres
barely touched by modern developers; a couple, like
Tiradentes
, look very much as they
did two centuries ago. All have ravishing Portuguese churches, steep cobbled streets, ornate
mansions and drip with colonial history. It was in these cities that the
Inconfidência
Mineira
, Brazil's first bungling attempt to throw off the Portuguese yoke, was played out
in 1789. And here the great sculptor Antônio Francisco Lisboa -
Aleijadinho
or the “little
cripple” - spent all his life (see box, p.156), leaving behind him a collection unmatched by
any other figure working in the contemporary Baroque tradition.
Sabará
Strung out over a series of hills a short drive east from the edge of Belo Horizonte's
sprawling suburbs,
SABARÁ
has retained a relaxed, small-town feel that befits its
historic past - founded in 1674, it was the first major centre of gold mining in the
state. While the steep, cobbled streets, rickety old homes and small plazas are appealing
FROM TOP
BELO HORIZONTE
P.138
; MUSEU DE ARTE DA PAMPULHA
P.146
>
