Ouro Preto, are all the churches an excuse for greed?

In this little mountainous town, Ouro Preta, which is a little jewel box, I have found more churches than grocery stores. Of course, UNESCO’s heritage has also impacted this town. On my trip around Brazil, I had been to São Paulo, Brasilia, Amazonas and along the coast. I wanted to go to this old colonial town to see some of the early Brazilian settlements that were not solely along the coast.

Belo Horizonte

To get to Ouro Preto, I had to fly in to Belo Horizonte.They say Belo Horizonte resembles a mini São Paulo and is well known for its visionary modern architecture. Since I was in Oscar Niemeyer’s land (after Brasilia), I wanted to see the small Igreja de São Francisco de Assis church. It was built in 1943 as a series of arches in concrete. On the back side walls are a series of Portuguese blue tiles. Unfortunately, the church was closed because of an arrangement there the following day. I also saw one of Niermeyer’s tower blocks in the city’s centre.

Ouro Preto

After spending the morning in the vast Sunday marked on Avenue Afonso Pena in Belo Horizonte, I took the bus to Ouro Preto. As we approached the town, several church towers started to appear. Most of them are twin-towered. They were all built in the same timeframe, in the Baroque style. All the churches and monasteries have earned the city its UNESCO World Heritage Site. And even I must admit, looking down at all these Baroque buildings is a magic site.

I was renting a room in a guesthouse just next door to one of Latin America’s most significant Baroque monuments. Bom Jesus de Matosinhos was completed in 1771. The church preserved the most impressive ensemble of statues in Latin America. Almost every square meter inside the church is painted, and much gold is used.

Ouro Preto means “Black Gold.”

By the mid-18th century, the gold rush had turned Ouro Preto into a wealthy town, and it turned some of the continent’s finest artists. Not that I think the new settlers in their newly conquered country, or the catholic church have a bad conscience of how they bulldozed forward. I guess, to ease some of the bad conscience, it was convenient to build several churches to a God they thought was blessing them.

Although I wonder why they built so many churches, it was not unusual at that time. Several countries that are a little more religious than necessary have the same traditions. Look at Ohrid in Macedonia. That little town claims to have 365 churches, one for each day of the year. But at least it gives us travellers something to visit and look at because, without a doubt, the world religions have given us much art to appreciate.

Parque Natural Municipal das Andorinhas

While researching the area, I saw pictures of some lovely waterfalls and knew there were some nice hikes. I did find out about the Parque Natural Municipal das Andorinhas and headed there early one morning. It was about an hour’s walk to reach the start of the “park.” There I was met by a nice guard, who made sign in and registrar with my mobile, so they could trace me if I went missing. The last thing he said was that I should be aware of the snakes.

It was an excellent “park” with several hikes marked with signs and of different lengths. I wanted to see the waterfalls, particularly the one inside a cave. You had to climb into it, but it was amazing when the light hit inside. Overall, I had three lovely days in Ouro Preto and its surroundings. I also visited another town called Mariana. My next and last stop in Brazil was Rio de Janeiro.

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