Belo Horizonte City Tour

DEPARTURE FROM BELO HORIZONTE

BHZ 05 – Belo Horizonte

City Tour – 3 hours

It was the first Brazilian city to be built (1897) upon an urban plan. At present, the city has 2,5 milion inhabitants. Belo Horizonte is the country’s second industrial center, producing steel, cement, automobiles and exporting iron ore, manganese, nickel, uranium and precious stones.

Pampulha Lake: a district where one can see the first works by the archictect Niemeyer, landscape projects by Burle Marx and paintings by Portinari. This district is looked upon as an early example of contempory architecture in Brazil, which reached its climax in Brasilia. Visit the Church of Saint Francis of Assissi, Museum of Art and the (Minerão Football Stadium- outside)

BHZ 06 – SABARÁ

Half-day tour – (Except on  Mondays)

Sabará is particularly rich in architectural and ornamental forms which trace the evolution of religious art in Minas. The Mother Church of Our Lady of Conception and the Chapel of Our Lady of Ó are spectacular examples of the baroque influence in the colonial period.

Church of Ó

Visit:

Church of Ó

Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição

Sabará Opera House
Gold Museum

BHZ 07 – Congonhas

85km from BHZ – Duration: 6 hours

Congonhas contains important works from the Golden Age of Brazil. The main points of interest are Aleijadinho’s sculptural masterpieces of the twelve Prophets, carved in soapstone and his sculptural representation of the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross), done in polychromatic woodwork. The set of
life-sized sculptures is Brazil’s greatest artistic treasure.

BHZ 08 – Ouro Preto

Daily except on Mondays, Jan 1, Apr 21, Dec 25 and Ash Wednesday.

Full Day tour + lunch Restaurante Conto de Réis (Regional buffet food).

Founded in 1698, Ouro Preto is the masterpiece of colonial architecture in Brazil. Declared by UNESCO as a “Cultural Patrimony of Mankind”. Due to its distance from the coast and the exhaustion of the mines after 1789,it is the one town in Brazil to remain as an outstanding artistic and architectural example of that era. Along the same period, there developed liberation movements inspired by the Iluminism ideas and the concreet example of the American Revolution.

Sightseeing

* Church of St. Francis of Assissi: An example of Brazilian religious architecture, designed by Aleijadinho, with wood and soapstone sculptures by the same artist.

* Museum of the School of Mines: a complete mineralogical view of Brazil, in addition to displays of geological artifacts from the other countries.

* Church of Our Lady of the Pilar: a church that marked the culmination of Golden Age architecture,with carved works painted entirely in gold.

* Oratorio Museum

* Opera House

Taste the typical dishes of the region: Feijão Tropeiro and Tutu a Mineira

BHZ 09 – Ouro Preto /  Mariana

Daily except on Mondays, Jan 1, Apr 21, Dec 25 and Ash Wednesday.

Full Day tour + lunch Restaurante Contos de Réis (Regional buffet food).

Founded in 1698, Ouro Preto is the masterpiece of colonial architecture in Brazil. Declared by UNESCO as a “Cultural Patrimony of Mankind”. Due to its distance from the coast and the exhaustion of the mines after 1789,it is the one town in Brazil to remain as an outstanding artistic and architectural example of that era. Along the same period, there developed liberation movements inspired by the Iluminism ideas and the concreet example of the American Revolution.

Sightseeing

* Church of St. Francis of Assissi: An example of Brazilian religious architecture, designed by  Aleijadinho, with wood and soapstone sculptures by the same artist.

* Museum of the School of Mines: a complete mineralogical view of Brazil, in addition to displays of geological artifacts from the other countries.

* Church of Our Lady of the Pilar: a church that marked the culmination of Golden Age architecture,with carved works painted entirely in gold. Oratorio Museum

* Opera House

Taste the typical dishes of the region: Feijão Tropeiro and Tutu a Mineira. Lunch Restaurante Casa dos Contos (Regional buffet food).

Drive to Mariana (15km)

The enchanted city, founded in 1696, was, for a short time the capital of State of Minas Gerais. It was originaly called Royal Village of Our Lady of Carmel. In 1745 it received its present name which was in honor of Queen Maria Ana. A walk down its picturesque streets allows you to see houses which date from the beginning of the XVIII century, with their balconies of wood, iron and even soapstone.

In Minas Gerais Plaza, the churches of St. Francis of Assissi with its richly sculptured door, our Lady of Carmel, the City Hall and the Pillory can be found.

NB: The Cathedral and  Church of St Francis are closed for restoration

BHZ 10 –  CONGONHAS / OURO PRETO

Daily except on Mondays.

Full Day tour + lunch Restaurante  Contos de Réis (Regional buffet food).

Congonhas

85 km from BHZ

Congonhas contains important works from the Golden Age of Brazil. The main points of interest are Aleijadinho’s sculptural masterpieces of the twelve Prophets, carved in soapstone and his sculptural representation of the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross), done in polychromatic woodwork. The set of
life-sized sculptures is Brazil’s greatest artistic treasure.

Proceed to Ouro Preto (60km)

Founded in 1698, Ouro Preto is the masterpiece of colonial architecture in Brazil. Declared by UNESCO as a “Cultural Patrimony of Mankind”. Due to its distance from the coast and the exhaustion of the mines after 1789,it is the one town in Brazil to remain as an outstanding artistic and architectural example of that era. Along the same period, there developed liberation movements inspired by the Iluminism ideas and the concreet example of the American Revolution.

Visit:

* Church of St. Francis of Assissi: An example of Brazilian religious architecture, designed by Aleijadinho, with wood and soapstone sculptures by the same artist.

* Museum of the School of Mines: a complete mineralogical view of Brazil, in addition to displays of geological artifacts from the other countries.

* Church of Our Lady of the Pilar: a church that marked the culmination of Golden Age

architecture,with carved works painted entirely in gold. Oratorio Museum

* Opera House

Taste the typical dishes of the region: Feijão Tropeiro and Tutu a Mineira.

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BHZ 11 – Congonhas / São João / Tiradentes

Full day tour with lunch (Regional buffet food).

08h00 – Depart to Congonhas – 85 km.

Congonhas contains important works from the Golden Age of Brazil. The main points of interest are Aleijadinho’s  sculptural masterpieces of the twelve Prophets, carved in soapstone and his sculptural representation of the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross), done in polychromatic woodwork. The set of life-sized sculptures is Brazil’s greatest artistic treasure.

Proceed to São João del Rei – 100 km.

The settlement was founded in 1703, when gold was discovered in the area. Being at the junction of the various roads that cut across the interior on the Capitania, São João always fulfilled important functions, such as the political center and comercial axis. Significant urbane and religious architecture developed there, accumulating an excellent cultural collection.

Visit:

Churches of Pilar (1721), Carmo (1733) and São Francisco de Assis (1749)

On the weekends, the Maria Fumaça, a 19^th century steam train, travels the romantic route to Tiradentes.

Continue to Tiradentes – 15 km.

It was the first settlement in the Rio das Mortes region when gold was found in 1702. Tiradentes, who was born here,became our national hero while participating in the Inconfidência Mineira (1789), a republican  liberation movement in Minas Gerais that was repressed by the Portuguese.

Visit:

Church of Santo Antonio (1710)

Museum of Padre Toledo

Fountain of  São José das Botas (1749)

Museu de Santana – museudesantana.org.br
Museu da Liturgia – museudaliturgia.com.br

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BHZ 12  –   INHOTIM – www.inhotim.org.br
Full day tour with lunch included

Except on Mondays

Located in Brumadinho – 60km from Belo Horizonte, Inhotim occupies an area of 87 acres of beautiful gardens – a part created by renowned landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx – a comprehensive living library of tropical plant species, in addition to a remarkable collection of contemporary art. Moving beyond the clear spatial and architectural limitations of conventional museums and sculpture parks, Inhotim offers artists the opportunity to dream and produce complex, innovative pieces.