10 Best Sights in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais

The impressive Our Lady of Carmel Church, completed in 1776, contains the last works of notable Brazilian sculptor Aleijadinho. It was originally designed by Aleijadinho's father, an architect, but was later modified by Aleijadinho, who added additional rococo elements, including the soapstone sculptures of angels above the entrance. Frequented by the high society of Ouro Preto at the time it was inaugurated, the church contains the only examples of azulejos (decorative Portuguese tiles) from this period in Minas Gerais.

Local lore has it that 400 pounds of gold and silver leaf were used to cover the interior of Ouro Preto's most richly decorated church, built on the site of an earlier chapel and consecrated in 1733. In addition to gold- and silver-clad sculptures of cherubs, flowers, and saints, highlights of the church's interior include a beautiful series of paintings by Bernardo Pires, as well as two massive angels made in solid silver. The church building also houses the Museu de Arte Sacra (Museum of Sacred Art), which has a collection of church furnishings and sculptures attributed to Aleijadinho.

Considered the masterpiece of Brazilian sculptor Aleijadinho, this church was begun in 1766 by the Franciscan Third Order but wasn't completed until 1810. Aleijadinho designed the structure and was responsible for the wood and soapstone sculptures on the portal, high altar, side altars, pulpits, and crossing arch. Manuel da Costa Ataíde, a brilliant artist in his own right, painted the panel on the nave ceiling representing the Virgin's glorification. Cherubic faces, garlands of tropical fruits, and allegorical characters carved into the main altar are still covered with their original paint.

One of the best historical museums in Brazil, this former 18th-century prison and onetime city hall has great interactive computer and television screen displays devoted to the history of the failed uprising of the Inconfidentes, life in colonial Tiradentes, slavery, and a number of other interesting topics. Other displays include period furniture, clothing, slaves' manacles, firearms, books, and gravestones. The museum also holds the remains of revolutionaries, some brought back from exile in Portugal's African colonies, and the document in which Maria I details the fate of Tiradentes's body parts.

This colonial site dating from the 1780s has had many uses: a prison, a tax collection center, and a coinage house, among others. It contains the foundry that minted coins of the gold-rush period and has exhibits of coins and period furniture. The building is considered one of the best examples of Brazilian colonial architecture. The beautiful park at the back of the building snakes past a waterfall and alongside a river to the other side of town.

The small, intriguing Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Blacks was inaugurated by slaves in 1785, some of whom bought their freedom with the gold they found in Ouro Preto. The church's interior is bare, allegedly because the slaves ran out of gold after erecting the building. In the unusual oval interior the baroque church houses sculptures of Santa Helena, Santo Antônio, and São Benedito.

On a hill east of Praça Tiradentes, this interesting slave church was built over the course of 60 years (1730–90) and was funded by Chico-Rei. This African ruler was captured during Brazil's gold rush and sold to a mine owner in Minas Gerais. Chico eventually earned enough money to buy his freedom—in the days before the Portuguese prohibited such acts—and became a hero among slaves. The clocks on the facade are the city's oldest, and the interior contains cedar sculptures by Francisco Xavier de Brito, the teacher of the noted sculptor Aleijadinho.

In the former governor's palace, the Museum of Science and Technology contains an enormous collection of stunning precious and semiprecious gems, along with gold and crystals. Exhibits also survey the geology of Minas Gerais and explain the mining process. An entire floor is devoted to gems organized according to their chemical families.

Established in the historic house of the St. Carmel novitiate, once a home to Aleijadinho, this museum celebrates 18th- and 19th-century sacred art. Some of the oratories, which reflect ideas of religious beauty from the period, have been displayed at the Louvre.

Billed as the oldest operating theater in Latin America, this former opera house opened in 1770. The Associação de Guias has information on events.