Travel series: Ouro Preto

yuiop7 (58)in #travel • 8 years ago (edited)

A colonial town in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The name in English means Black Gold and there's a reason why...

Ouro Preto is a small colonial town just outside of Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais in Brasil.
A day trip is more than enough to see everything it has to offer. If you're not much of a reader or have interests in learning about this place you can still enjoy its awesome architecture and scenery. It truly is very peaceful and the antithesis of its neighboring capital city, BH. I had the opportunity to visit during summer season and the weather that day was just right.

Being considered one of the most important cities in Brazilian history, the town has been declared Cultural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO. Giving a quick read about the roots of this place will bring you more in tune with it and the time you experience there will be more fulfilling rather than just visiting the pinpoints on your souvenir map & snapping occasional pics. At the least, hire a travel guide

In the previous months of my visit I finished reading a book called "Open veins of Latin America" by Eduardo Galeano, which made mention to this city. This book was banned for many years when it was published in 1973 in countries like Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile by right-wing governments but gained even more popularity in later years. I decided to give it a shot after lots of recommendations and I must say, it's a very interesting and passionate book that I recommend anyone to pick up. Galeano was a journalist, writer, and novelist so this book is an easy read for those who do not enjoy the more academic or investigative type of works.

Stumbling onto the city was sheer coincidence though. I happened to be in Belo Horizonte for a few weeks staying at a hostel and one night after a bbq, having some caipirinhas with the owners and some of the employees at the hostel, this town became the subject of conversation and luckily for me I wasn't left out thanks to my recent read. After our chat I asked how far the town was and if it was possible to visit. Fortunately for me the town was no further than a 1 hour bus ride and a decent priced fare, to and from. So I stumbled up stairs to my room to prep for my next day visit, putting both my camera batteries to charge along with my alarm and some stuff to carry along in my bag.

The next day, 8:30 am I was off. I took advantage of the short trip to quickly map out my way to some sights I wanted to see in a chronological order mainly to take advantage of the lighting for taking pictures, of course when I actually got there the plans needed to be reconsidered. The town has lots of steep areas, so I decided to mark my visits based on how well & efficient I could get around.

So from the bus station I worked my way to down towards my adventure at piecing parts of what I read in Galeano's book and also trying to get a feel of the town, it's culture and people. One of the first sights after getting off he bus was Santa Efigenia dos Pretos church. The view from the steps it has leading down to the historic city center is impressive

Now the reason why this town is called Ouro Preto, is due to it's enormous gold reserve that was mined strictly by natives who were forced into slavery, these natives consisted primarily of african descent, for the Portugues settlers.
The settlers stripped this town of most of its metal reserves. Currently, Ouro preto thrives primarily on tourism & hospitality.
I don't want to splurge into many facts, especially for those who decide to give the book I recommended an opportunity.

With that being said the rich history this town has makes the trip very entertaining, the scenery helps you disconnect and actually relax, and the architecture in itself is a work of art. There really aren't many reasons not to visit if you're ever around!

I've added some more of my personal pics below.