12 April 2010, Ouro Preto (Minas Gerais, Brazil)
A beautiful little town in the hills of Minas Gerais state - loaded with history and colonial buildings: most famously its many baroque churches. It seems that from any point in town, you can at least see two churches, one close, and another one further away. Narrow cobblestone roads wind up and down the steep hills. Sightseeing is good exercise. And whoever manages to manoeuvre a car around the narrow corners is fit to drive anywhere in the world.
The town made its fortune with mining, mostly gold. We visit the nearby Minas do Passagem. We enter the mine on a little train on the old tracks. The mine is not as claustrophobic as the one we visited in Potosi, and even has an underground lake. Officially , 35tons of gold were produced from this mine which ceased activity in 1984, but unofficial amounts could be several times higher, as it was common for the slaves and workers to smuggle gold out of the mines. 
During the rule of the Portuguese crown, a fifth (20%) of all gold produced was confiscated shipped to Portugal into the kings coffers. A group of local leaders and mine owners resented this arrangement, and organised a rebellion. They are known as the Inconfidentes with Tiradentes as their leader. The revolution failed, and Tiradentes was hung in Rio. Today, the rebellion is seen as the starting point of Brasilian independence and Tiradentes is a national hero. Other things have changed too: nowadays few people would oppose a 20% tax rate - it would be classified as a tax haven.But there is more to discover than colonial buildings and a rich history: we also enjoy the cuisine the region is famous for. The town even has a few specialist chocolate shops - at least one of them makes excellent pralines. Gaudi forgets his loyalty to Swiss chocolate and becomes a regular at the shop.
No comments:
Post a Comment