Baroque Brazil: the historic towns of Minas Gerais

The historic towns of Minas Gerais are a number of 18^th century cities that were built when large amounts of gold and diamonds were found in this Brazilian state. Most of these cities are located in mountainous regions and were built in a typical kind of Baroque style that is know as the Baroque of Minas Gerais or the Barroco Mineiro.

The most important colonial cities of Minas Gerais are Ouro Preto, Diamantina, Congonhas, Mariana, Tiradentes, São João del Rey, Sabará, Serro, Caeté and Santa Bárbara. Most of these cities used to be connected with Rio de Janeiro by the Estrada Real (the Royal Way). Today’s Estrada Real is a kind of ‘Route 66’ along the historic cities of the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro.

Getting there
Belo Horizonte is the capital of Minas Gerais. This modern city was constructed in the middle of this ancient state and it can be used as a trampoline to visit historical cities by bus. Busses to the colonial towns leave from the rodoviaria of Belo Horizonte.

History
The discovery of gold in 1693 boosted the population in the area which is still known as Minas Gerais (“General Mines”). Before the discovery of gold, Brazil exported mainly wood and sugar to Portugal. These goods were obtained in the coastal regions. While the Spanish found large quantities of gold and silver in their American colonies, the Portuguese were making enormous profits in the spices trade with Asia. In addition, Minas Gerais was hardly accessible. Because of this lack of interest and because of its difficult accessibility, Minas Gerais was hardly explored at that time.

This changed after the discovery of gold in Minas Gerais by so called Bandeirantes. These Bandeirantes organised private expeditions from São Paulo into the interior of Brazil in the search of Amerindian slaves and other commodities. As these expeditions used a flag (‘Bandeira’ in Portuguese) for recognition, its participants were called Bandeirantes. Soon after the discovery of gold, prospectors from all parts of Brazil and Portugal rushed into this region. The migration was that large, that a law was issued to reduce the number of immigrants in Brazil in order to avoid the depopulation of Portugal. Between 1707 and 1710, a war on gold raged between the Bandeirantes and the “Emboabas” (other Brazilians and Portuguese). The Bandeirantes lost this War of the Emboabas after which Portugal controlled the area. In spite of this conflict, the number of villages in Minas Gerais grew very fast. The first capital of Minas Gerais was Mariana. In 1720, Vila Rica (today’s Ouro Preto) became capital of Minas Gerais.

The mining of gold made it possible to build beautiful towns with marvellous churches. Far away from Portugal with plenty of money, the people of Minas Gerais soon developed a typical style, the Barroco Mineiro or the baroque of Minas Gerais. Barroco Mineiro comprises works of many artists but Antônio Francisco Lisboa, who is better know by his nickname Aleijadinho, was the most important artist of this style. This son of a Portuguese artists and his African slave became famous as a sculptor, designer and architect. His masterpieces are the Via Crucis and the 12 prophets in Congonhas but many of his works can be found in Ouro Preto.

The gold of Minas Gerais was a great opportunity for the Portuguese, but it also put them for enormous challenges. Large quantities of gold were shipped to Portugal but controlling the transport of gold was far more difficult than controlling the shipment of sugar. Gold was taxed very highly and to avoid smuggling, it was obligatory to travel over the Estrada Real ("the Royal Way").

Who visits the colonial cities of Minas Gerais should be aware that all that splendour was made under a very repressive regime. The slaves who worked underground in the goldmines died young because of pneumoconiosis (“miner’s lungs”) and several other diseases. In the basement of the Casa dos Contos in Ouro Preto, a number of quarters can be seen in which slaves were locked at night. Horses were kept under better conditions than slaves.

Even citizens had to deal with repression by the Portuguese. When the gold mines became more and more depleted, the Portuguese raised the taxes on gold to compensate their loss of income. Partly as a result of this, a movement for independence was formed. Its name was the Inconfidência Mineira (“the conspiracy of Minas Gerais”). In 1789, the most important leaders of this movement were arrested. Most were exiled, one died in prison and the most enthusiastic leader, José Joaquim da Silva Xavier, was executed in 1792. José Joaquim da Silva Xavier was nicknamed Tiradentes (“tooth puller”) because he once worked as a dentist. After the independence of Brazil, Tiradentes is considered a national hero.

The population of most of these cities decreased after the goldmines were depleted. Because of this, many old buildings were conserved instead of being replaced by more modern architecture. During the 20th century, the unique style of these cities was rediscovered and restoration started. Ouro Preto became a national monument in 1933 and was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.