During the 17th and 18th century, Brazil faced one of most important and rich periods on its history. By that time, explorers found enormous mines of gold and precious gems in the mountains in the interior of the country, in a region so-called Minas Gerais.
In this region, the richness of the mines created spectacular cities with rich architecture and art. After the exhaustion of these mines and the beginning of a new economic cycle in the coffee farms, cities like Ouro Preto, Mariana, Tiradentes and Diamantina were virtually abandoned, leaving a spectacular treasure behind. Today they are called the “Historical Cities”.
We went on a school trip to learn about the historical cities of MG, we visited Ouro Preto, Mariana, Tiradentes and Congonhas do Campo.

WHERE TO GO / WHAT TO SEE:

We visited lots of churches and statues of barroco style made by Alejadinho, the man that had a degenerative disease, and some historians say that this disease was leprosy. In the city of Ouro Preto there is a very famous museum called Museu da Inconfidencia. We also visited the church of San Francisco, church of Pilar, the church of Bom Jesus de Matosinho and the main church  of Tiradentes.

Churches- of São Francisco, Pilar, Bom Jesus De Matosinho and the main church of Tiradentes, we can see the barroco style.

We also went to Mina do Chico Rei, an old mine where the slaves used to extract gold with their own hands for the miners. You have to go through a narrow tunnel into the mine.

                
  Igreja de São Francisco                                   Mina Do Chico Rei

     
        Museu da Inconfidência

WHEATER:

Ouro preto has a very moderate and pleasant weather, the summer is hot, humid and it rains in that period, during the day it can reach 30ºc. In the winter the nights are very cold and during the day the  temperature reaches 20ºc to 25ºc.  

WHERE TO STAY:

A good place to stay in Mariana is the hotel called Hotel Providencia, it is a very modest hotel but  it is very comfortable. In Tiradentes there is a very cool hotel, Hotel Ponta do Morro, inside that hotel there is a pool, a footsal court and a big area to have fun and relax.
You can find the sites of the hotels  on the links on the right.

WHERE/WHAT TO EAT:

In the cities we ate in many resturants, but we prefered the resturant located in  Ouro Preto that is called Casa Dos Contos. There we ate  Feijão Tropeiro, which is a tipical food there and also is very good.

WHAT TO TAKE: 

You can take  normal clothes, a wallet and a good coat to wear at night.

TIPS:

You can buy nice things there, so bring some money to buy:

HOW TO GET THERE: