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Ouro Preto, the Historical City most Visited in Brazil, is Preferred by São Paulo Residents

05/29/2018 - 12h40

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THAÍS NICOLETI DE CAMARGO
FROM SÃO PAULO

According to research from Datafolha, the city of Ouro Preto (Black Gold) in the State of Minas Gerais is the preferred historic city destination for 21% of the residents of the City of São Paulo.

Ouro Preto, which until 1823 was known as Vila Rica, has a always attracted writers and artists (Oscar Neimeyer even designed a hotel there). Bandeira ended up writing the "Guide to Ouro Preto", a small jewel, which, in addition to serving as a tourist guide for a first visit, also includes a series of reports and tasty details written in a folksy, conversational tone - a real delight to read.

Adriano Vizoni/Folhapress
Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais
Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais

In it you will find the story of the city's name, which comes from a lucky find by "an anonymous mulatto", who discovered in the water of the Tripuí stream (later it was renamed the Antônio Dias) "black granites", which were later revealed to be nuggets of precious metal coated with iron oxide.

It is nearly impossible to be in the city without feeling transported back to the Gold Era, which in a mixture of opulence and tragedy, left marks that remain in the ornamentation of the surrounding churches. "The Romance of the Inconfidence", by Cecília Meireles, in which the locale's historical-affective memory is reconstituted based on documents, letters and family conversations, can be a great companion on the trip.

In the chronicle "Ouro Preto Today, Ouro Preto Always", Vinicius de Moraes, another writer impassioned by the city, has advice for those who want to record their passage there: It is good to stop at every rise to adore every little detail, a grate, a latch, a shutter, a railing, a flight of stairs, an old roof, some crazy green oxidation on a white wall like something that would make the photographer Cartier-Gresson travel over continents".

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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