Halfway between Ouro Preto and Mariana, this ancient gold mine was founded by the Portuguese in 1719 and definitively decommissioned in 1985. Guided tours descend in a rickety antique cable car, covering the mine’s history and local gold-extraction methods, then visiting a subterranean lake and a shrine to the many black slaves who died here dynamiting into the rock. Any Ouro Preto–Mariana bus can drop you here (R$4.45, 15 minutes from either town).
Minas da Passagem
Minas Gerais
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Igreja de São Francisco de Assis
4.16 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…
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28.5 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…
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4.47 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…
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4.4 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…
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1.71 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…
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4.23 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…
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Igreja de Santa Efigênia dos Pretos
3.68 MILES
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…
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3.91 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
1.6 MILES
On Mariana's central square, this church was severely damaged by fire in 1999, but still retains its original rococo chancel (the only element to have…
2. Igreja São Francisco de Assis
1.63 MILES
Mariana's loveliest church was designed by Aleijadinho, whose work can also be seen in the pulpits and other interior details. The gorgeous ceiling panels…
1.64 MILES
One block downhill from Praça Minas Gerais, this leafy square is an inviting place to sit and watch the world go by, with a pond, a gazebo and park…
4. Museu Arquidiocesano de Arte Sacra
1.69 MILES
Mariana's sacred art museum features sculptures by Aleijadinho, paintings by Ataíde and other religious objects.
1.71 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…
3.42 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…
7. Igreja de Santa Efigênia dos Pretos
3.68 MILES
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…
3.86 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…