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Although only 12 kilometers east of Ouro Preto, Mariana, the first capital of Minas Gerais, is not often included on tourists' itineraries despite the fact that gold financed artistic wonders here as well. This quiet provincial city of 40,000 inhabitants, named in honor of Maria Anna of Austria (wife of Dom Joao V), is well worth a half-day's tour.
From the bus station at Praqa J. Kubitschek, follow the signs marked Centro da Cidade all the way to the main square, Praia Claudio Manoel, where you will find the Basilica da Se a good spot to begin your tour of the city.
Built by Manuel Francisco de Costa Lisboa between 1711 and 1760, the magnificence of this structure - whose faqade is by Aleijadinho - testifies to the city's former importance as the first bishopric of the state of Minas Gerais. The wooden cupola spanning the choir is by an anonymous artist, and the painting of The Baptism of~Christ is by Athayde. On Fridays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at noon, concerts are given on the German organ, which dates from 1701 and is overlaid with Chinese ornamentation.
Just to the left of the church is a structure with a richly-decorated faqade, copestone windows and capitals: the Casa Capitular. Built in 1771, it now serves as the Museu Arquidiocesano (Archdiocese Museum) and contains 18th- and 19th-century religious art. Works by Aleijadinho and Athayde are also on display here.
After proceeding down Rua Sao Francisco past the Casa do Conde de Assumar, the former Governor-General's palace built in 1715, you arrive at a superb group of buildings on the Praia Joao Pinheiro. The Casa de Camara e Cadeia, today the prefectorial seat, was built in 1768 and originally had a dual function - it served as the administrative center for the colonial government and as a prison. One of the most interesting of its kind in Brazil, the building (especially its front staircase) reflects influences from northern Portuguese architecture. On this square, too, the architectural identical twins of Sao Francisco de Assis and Nossa Senhora do Carmo, the former Franciscan and the latter Carmelite, stand opposite each other. The Franciscan church was begun in 1763; work on the Carmelite structure was initiated 20 years later. The tympanum above the portal depicting Sao Francisco is by Aleijadinho. Both of these singlenaved structures have Doric pilasters on their towers, but only above the highest ledge, and it is this element that differentiates them: the Franciscan church's towers are broad and angular, while the Carmelite's are round.
Four kilometers from Mariana in the direction of Ouro Preto lies Mina da Passagem, a gold mine that was abandoned in 1985 and which is now the property of the Mineralogical Society of Passagem, itself founded in 1819 by the German geologist Ludwig Wilhelm Baron von Eschwege. A tour guide shows visitors around the natural lakes and tunnels that comprise the 15-squarekilometer area of the mine, which is 120 meters underground. Nowadays, women are allowed to visit the mine, although this was not the case when it was active, owing to a prospectors' superstition that women bring bad luck by day. |
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