in the late 17th century gold was found in the interior of brasil. people from all o
ver brasil and portugal started to move into the interior... to minas gerais to mine for gold. at the time, ouro preto was called villa rica de ouro preto... eventually, that was shortened to ouro preto. settlers were guided to ouro preto by following and looking for this interesting rock formation, that is perched in the hills overlooking ouro preto.
because of the gold, ouro preto became rich, which led to a large concentration of elaborate baroque churches, and well built colonial buildings. it also meant that as gold production dwindled, the town slowed down. today, ouro preto is not a sleepy town because of the university and tourism, but it is fairly quaint. its a lovely town in the heart of minas gerais province, about 2 hours bus ride from Belo Horizonte. the town was used to film the movie moon over parador in the 1980s starring richard dreyfuss, raul julia, and sonia braga.
the climate in ouro preto reminded me of cintra. high in the mountains it was cool. temperatures in the 70s and no humidity as opposed to the muggy tropicalness of Rio. of course, you still worked up a sweat because you had to climb up and down steep hills, but it was fun. and i was actually surprised that the hills didnt bother me too much... i guess its all the ladderwells on the ship.
ver brasil and portugal started to move into the interior... to minas gerais to mine for gold. at the time, ouro preto was called villa rica de ouro preto... eventually, that was shortened to ouro preto. settlers were guided to ouro preto by following and looking for this interesting rock formation, that is perched in the hills overlooking ouro preto.
because of the gold, ouro preto became rich, which led to a large concentration of elaborate baroque churches, and well built colonial buildings. it also meant that as gold production dwindled, the town slowed down. today, ouro preto is not a sleepy town because of the university and tourism, but it is fairly quaint. its a lovely town in the heart of minas gerais province, about 2 hours bus ride from Belo Horizonte. the town was used to film the movie moon over parador in the 1980s starring richard dreyfuss, raul julia, and sonia braga.
the climate in ouro preto reminded me of cintra. high in the mountains it was cool. temperatures in the 70s and no humidity as opposed to the muggy tropicalness of Rio. of course, you still worked up a sweat because you had to climb up and down steep hills, but it was fun. and i was actually surprised that the hills didnt bother me too much... i guess its all the ladderwells on the ship.
