Historical cities of Ouro Preto & Mariana | Private tour

Located in the center of Ouro Preto, Praça Tiradentes is the city’s main square and is named in honor of Tiradentes, a leader of an unsuccessful revolution for independence known as the Inconfidencia Mineira. The square is edged by well-preserved buildings from over 250 years ago, and the history of the area can be discovered in the Inconfidência Museum at the end of the square. There are also several boutique shops and cafes for a pleasant afternoon shopping trip and a regional lunch.

Set inside an old municipal headquarters and Ouro Preto‘s former jail, in a building that dates back between 1784 and 1854, the Museu da Inconfidência is a Brazilian history museum and a homage to those that died during an attempted revolution in 1789. It was an unsuccessful movement that fought for Brazilian independence from Portugal and is known as the Inconfidência Mineira. The museum guides visitors through this history with main attractions including the tomb of Tiradentes (the man behind the revolution who was later hung in the gallows for his participation) and various manuscripts related to the revolt.

Constructed in 1769 by João de Souza Lisboa and opened just a year later, the Municipal Theater of Ouro Preto is one of the oldest in the Americas and supposedly the first in Brazil to allow women on the stage. The modest facade of the theater contrasts with the elegance on the inside with the balconies, the stage, and the seating preserving their colonial past. The theater has regular shows including operas and orchestras.

The Museu do Oratório – the Oratory Museum – has a large collection of oratories, religious figurines, intricate altars, and shrines that date back between the 17th and 20th centuries. The museum is set inside the Casa do Noviciado, a three-storey reformed mansion, where the baroque architect and artist Aleijadinho temporarily lived while working on the nearby Igreja Nossa Senhora do Carmo church.

Designed by Aleijadinho – one of Brazil’s greatest baroque artists and sculptors – and constructed in 1768, the perfectly preserved Church of Francis of Assis is one of Ouro Preto’s most famous architectural landmarks. The inside of the church is richly decorated with golden woodwork and intricate religious figures (also carved by Aleijadinho), and the wooden ceiling displays the art of Manuel da Costa Ataide:, a giant, hand-painted mural that took nine years to paint and is considered Ataide’s best masterpieces.

One of the best-known churches in Ouro Preto, the Basílica Nossa Senhora do Pilar is a Catholic church in the historical center of the city. Its construction started at the end of the 17th century and today remains in pristine condition, with a gold-plated interior and intricately carved religious figures inside. In order to protect the delicate artistic carvings inside – some which are centuries old – photos are prohibited of the church’s interior.

The Casa dos Contos museum is set inside an 18th-century building that was once a treasury house occasionally used as a temporary prison for those involved in the Inconfidência revolution. Nowadays, the former mansion has been repurposed into a museum that guides visitors through the history of gold and money in Brazil. The museum also decorates rooms to show how they may have looked centuries ago, while in the basement there is a moving exhibition containing various slavery items.

The current parish of Our Lady of the Assumption was founded in 1704 and at that time was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a time when the only temple Camp Ribeirão Carmo was the Chapel of the Virgin. A small chapel mud was then raised by the Portuguese mining António Pereira Machado. Work on the current temple began in 1711, when Governor Antonio de Albuquerque raised the camp to a town. Therefore, the church received the title of venue dedicated to the Virgin. A first expansion took place between 1713 and 1718, commissioned the master Jacinto Lopes Barbosa who reused the existing structure and became the sacristy. In 1734 the building was already quite spoiled by the start of new works on the facade and tower under the responsibility of the teacher António Coelho Fonseca. Only in 1798 it is that the exterior walls were rebuilt in stone and lime.

In the middle of the Praça Minas Gerais is the pelourinho, a haunting reminder of the tortures inflicted upon slaves. Lining the great green expanse of the square are two Baroque churches: the Igreja de São Francisco de Assis. The other one, the Igreja de N. S. do Carmo, is noted for its two round towers.

The simple 18th-century church Basilica São Pedro dos clérigos stands on the top of the city's only hill. From this point, we have the best view of Mariana!