Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Memorial Tancredo Neves
Rua Padre José Maria Xavier 7 at Av Eduardo Magalhães • Fri- Sun & holidays 9am-5pm • R$4 •
T
31 3371 7836,
W
memorialtancredoneves.com.br
Just around the corner from the Igreja de São Francisco is the
Memorial Tancredo
Neves
. This small nineteenth-century town house shelters a collection of personal
artefacts and documents relating to the former president's life, and
ex votos
used to
decorate his grave, thanking him “for graces granted” - many Brazilians regard
Tancredo as nothing less than a modern saint. Neves was born in the city in 1910 and
was the politician who shepherded Brazil out of military rule before he was elected
president in 1985. Tragically, he died before he took o
ce and is buried in the closest
thing the city has to a shrine in the cemetery of São Francisco (see opposite).
2
Igreja da Nossa Senhora do Rosário
Rua Getúlio Vargas • Tues-Sun noon-6pm • R$2
One block north from Avenida Tancredo Neves lies the colonial area around
Rua
Getúlio Vargas
. The western end is home to the small
Igreja da Nossa Senhora do
Rosário
, built for the town's slave population from 1719, which looks onto a cobbled
square dominated by two stunning colonial mansions; the one nearest the church is the
Solar dos Neves
, the place where Tancredo lived between 1957 and 1985.
Museu de Arte Sacra
Praça Embaixador Gastão da Cunha 8, Rua Getúlio Vargas • Mon-Fri noon-5pm, Sat 9am-1pm • R$5 •
T
32 3371 7005,
W
museudeartesacra.com.br
The excellent
Museu de Arte Sacra
, contained within another sensitively restored
building (a former jail), boasts a small but enchanting collection; highlights are a finely
painted St George by Mestre do Cajuru, a head of Christ attributed to Aleijadinho, and
a remarkable figure of Christ mourned by Mary Magdalene, with rubies representing
drops of blood. As you go around, you're accompanied by Baroque church music, which
matches the pieces perfectly. The museum also has a small gallery for exhibitions by
São João's large artistic colony.
Catedral Basílica de Nossa Senhora de Pilar
Rua Monsenhor Gustavo 61 at Rua Getúlio Vargas • Mon 8-10.30am & 5-8pm, Tues-Fri 8-10.30am & 1-8pm, Sat & Sun 8-10.30am &
5-8pm • Free •
T
32 3371 2568
Almost next door to the Museu de Arte Sacra is a magnificent early Baroque church,
now the
Catedral de Nossa Senhora de Pilar
, started in 1721. The interior is gorgeous
and only Pilar in Ouro Preto and Santo Antônio in Tiradentes are as liberally plastered
with gold. The gilding is seen to best effect over the altar, a riot of Rococo pillars,
angels and curlicues. The ceiling painting is all done with vegetable dyes, and there's
a beautiful tiled floor.
Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Mercês
Praça Dom Pedro II (Largo das Mercês) • Daily 7-11am & 5-8pm • Free
he
Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Mercês
, behind the cathedral at the end of sleepy Praça
Dom Pedro II, dates from 1751 (but was largely rebuilt in the 1800s) and is notable
for the variety and artistry of the gra
ti - some of it dating back to the nineteenth
century - etched into its stone steps.
Museu Regional
Rua Marechal Deodoro 12 •
Tues-Fri 10.30am-5.30pm, Sat & Sun 1.30-5.30pm • R$1, Sun free •
T
32 3371 7663
Near the cathedral, just off Avenida Tancredo Neves, is the illuminating
Museu
Regional
, housed in a magnificently restored colonial mansion. Perhaps the most
fascinating pieces here are the eighteenth-century
ex votos
on the ground floor, their
vivid illustrations detailing the trials
both masters and slaves experienced: José Alves de
