Financed by gold from Chico-Rei’s mine and built by the slave community, this mid-18th-century church honors Santa Efigênia, princess of Nubia. The exterior image of NS do Rosário is by Aleijadinho. Slaves legendarily contributed to the church coffers by washing their gold-flaked hair in baptismal fonts, or smuggling gold powder under fingernails and inside tooth cavities.
Igreja de Santa Efigênia dos Pretos
Minas Gerais
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Igreja de São Francisco de Assis
0.48 MILES
This exquisite church is Brazil's most important piece of colonial art, after Aleijadinho’s masterpiece The Prophets in Congonhas. Its entire exterior was…
-
25.07 MILES
Already an old man, sick and crippled, Aleijadinho sculpted The Prophets between 1800 and 1805. Symmetrically placed in front of the Basílica do Bom Jesus…
-
0.79 MILES
On the southwestern side of town, this is Brazil's second most opulent church (after Salvador’s São Francisco). It has 434kg of gold and silver and is one…
-
0.74 MILES
This 18th-century treasury building still retains its historic foundry, where gold was melted down and formed into bars under the watchful eye of the…
-
3.68 MILES
Halfway between Ouro Preto and Mariana, this ancient gold mine was founded by the Portuguese in 1719 and definitively decommissioned in 1985. Guided tours…
-
5.17 MILES
The star attraction at Mariana's cathedral is its fantastic German organ dating from 1701, painted with designs from the then-Portuguese colony of Macau…
-
0.55 MILES
This historical museum is housed in Ouro Preto's old municipal headquarters and jail, an attractive building built between 1784 and 1854 on the southern…
-
0.25 MILES
Near Matriz NS da Conceição de Antônio Dias is the abandoned mine of Chico-Rei. There’s little to see as you stoop through the low passageways, but it’s…
Nearby Minas Gerais attractions
0.18 MILES
This is the most famous of several oratórios (glass-encased niches containing images of saints) built on street corners around town by early-18th-century…
0.25 MILES
Near Matriz NS da Conceição de Antônio Dias is the abandoned mine of Chico-Rei. There’s little to see as you stoop through the low passageways, but it’s…
0.26 MILES
Built between 1701 and 1704 and named after one of the original bandeirantes (roaming adventurers who spent the 17th and 18th centuries exploring Brazil’s…
4. Igreja de São Francisco de Assis
0.48 MILES
This exquisite church is Brazil's most important piece of colonial art, after Aleijadinho’s masterpiece The Prophets in Congonhas. Its entire exterior was…
5. Casa de Tomás Antônio Gonzaga
0.49 MILES
Marked with a plaque, this 18th-century building is the spot where Gonzaga and the other Inconfidentes conspired to put an end to Portuguese rule in…
0.55 MILES
This historical museum is housed in Ouro Preto's old municipal headquarters and jail, an attractive building built between 1784 and 1854 on the southern…
0.56 MILES
Ouro Preto's vast cobblestoned central square is surrounded by some of the city’s finest museums and churches, and serves as the centerpiece for city wide…
8. Museu de Ciência e Técnica da Escola de Minas
0.58 MILES
In the old governor’s palace above Praça Tiradentes, this museum features dazzling gemstones from around the world. Even if you skip the museum itself, it…