Ouro Preto

The currency is the real (R$, BRL). Much of what matters in the city is cheap or free: the Museu da Inconfidência and the Casa dos Contos are free, and Praça Tiradentes, the facades and the viewpoints cost nothing. The churches charge a visiting fee, and the city government does not publish the amounts, only each parish's phone number; the Basílica do Pilar charged R$ 20 full price and R$ 10 half price, with the Museu de Arte Sacra included, and the Museu do Oratório R$ 8 full price and R$ 4 half price, in October 2026. The collection of the Museu Aleijadinho is divided among the Matriz de Antônio Dias, the Igreja de São Francisco de Assis and the Igreja das Mercês e Perdões, and the city government does not publish a usable amount; ask at the ticket office whether the fee covers more than one church. The Parque Estadual do Itacolomi charged R$ 28.75, plus R$ 20 for parking, and residents of Ouro Preto and Mariana do not pay on weekdays. The Mina da Passagem charged R$ 290 per person, cash only, and notes that bank branches exist only in the centers of Mariana and Ouro Preto. Carry some cash for church fees and for the mine; for hotels and restaurants, confirm the form of payment when you book.

Getting there via Belo Horizonte

The busiest airport is Confins International (CNF), 142 km from Ouro Preto by road, about 2 hours 20 minutes by car; Pampulha is 110 km away. The city government's list has no direct line from the airport to Ouro Preto: those going by bus take the executive bus or an urban line from the airport to Belo Horizonte, whose bus station is about 40 km away, and from there continue with Pássaro Verde for the 96 km to Ouro Preto. Check the operator and schedule of the airport bus before traveling. There are also Útil buses to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and Gontijo buses to Vitória. Ouro Preto's bus station, the Terminal Rodoviário 8 de Julho, is about 900 m from Praça Tiradentes on foot, uphill; by car it is 1.2 km.

On foot, on the slopes

The historic center is covered on foot: from the Basílica do Pilar to the Matriz de Antônio Dias it is about 850 m, passing through Praça Tiradentes. The streets are slopes of uneven stone, and distance on the map is deceptive, because every stretch goes up or down. The streets are narrow and fill with cars, which compete with pedestrians for space; if you arrive by car, you are better off leaving it at the pousada. The Horto dos Contos links Pilar, the bus station and the Casa dos Contos by trail, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Buses to Mariana and the districts

Transcotta runs the line to Mariana, about 12 km away, via Passagem de Mariana, and to Antônio Pereira. The Consórcio Rota Real serves Lavras Novas, São Bartolomeu, Cachoeira do Campo and other districts. For Congonhas and Tiradentes there is no direct line in the city government's list. The tourist train between Ouro Preto and Mariana is closed, with no date for its return.

The most concrete risks in Ouro Preto come from the terrain. The stone slopes are slippery in the rain, and the city has unstable hillsides: in 2016 the Geological Survey of Brazil counted 313 areas of geological risk, and in January 2022 a landslide brought down the Solar Baeta Neves, in the historic center. On days of heavy rain, follow the Defesa Civil warnings and stay away from the foot of embankments. In the Parque Estadual do Itacolomi, the administration warns that there is no rescue service and that exit is by 5 p.m.; carry water, stay on marked trails and don't go alone to remote areas. During festivals, such as Holy Week and Carnival, the crowds on the slopes call for care with phone and wallet. Emergencies: SAMU 192 and Corpo de Bombeiros 193.

Visit the churches outside Mass

The churches are still in use: the Basílica do Pilar has Mass every day at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and São Francisco de Assis on Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. A tourist visit is during visiting hours, with a fee; during Mass, come in to take part or stay outside.

Don't step on the Holy Week carpets

On Easter Sunday, residents draw with sawdust the carpet along which the Resurrection procession passes. Walk on the sidewalk and wait for the procession to pass before crossing.

Repúblicas are residents' homes

The student repúblicas have a name on the facade and sometimes receive visitors at parties, but they are homes with their own rules of entry. Don't go in without an invitation.

Planning the churches for a Monday

Most churches and museums close on Mondays, and the Carmo closes on Tuesdays. With two days, prefer Wednesday to Saturday, when everything is open, and confirm Sunday by phone: the city government publishes conflicting hours for the Matriz de Antônio Dias and does not publish those of the Carmo.

Arriving at a church at lunchtime

The Basílica do Pilar closes between 10:45 a.m. and noon, and the Igreja do Rosário only opens at 1 p.m. Build the day around each church's hours, not around the order on the map.

Counting on the train to Mariana

The tourist train between Ouro Preto and Mariana is closed, with no date for its return. The Transcotta bus and the car make the trip of about 12 km.

Going to the Mina da Passagem without cash

The ticket office charges R$ 290 per person and accepts cash only, with no guarantee of Pix or card. Withdraw money beforehand, in central Ouro Preto or Mariana.

Doing Tiradentes as a day trip

Tiradentes is 156 km away, about 3 hours by car each way. In a single day, little time is left in the town; sleep there or leave it for another trip.

Walking in smooth-soled shoes

The slopes are uneven stone, and in the rain they get slippery. Wear shoes with rubber soles, which grip better on smooth, wet stone.

Bom dia

Greeting used until noon; after that, «boa tarde» and, at night, «boa noite»

Quanto é a visitação?

How much is the fee to visit the church?

A igreja está aberta?

A useful question before going in, outside Mass hours

Uai

An interjection widely used in Minas Gerais for surprise, doubt or confirmation («É isso, uai»)

Trem

In Minas Gerais, besides a railway train, it means «thing», any object or fact

Pode tirar foto?

May I take a photo? Ask first inside churches and museums

Between the Serra de Ouro Preto and the Itacolomi

Ouro Preto occupies a narrow valley between the Serra de Ouro Preto, to the north, and the Itacolomi massif, to the south, whose 1,772 m peak served as a landmark for the bandeirantes and can be seen from several points in the center. The region is part of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, and the subsoil is still mined for iron, bauxite and manganese. The Velhas and Piracicaba rivers rise in the municipality, and the terrain ranges from about 700 m in Amarantina to over 1,600 m in Antônio Pereira.

Two settlements and a square on the heights

The city stretches along a slope, with two old centers at the ends: Pilar, to the west, and Antônio Dias, to the east. Between them lies Praça Tiradentes, on the former Morro de Santa Quitéria, which separated the two settlements. Two main streets run down from the square on either side, and the rest of the grid is stone-paved slopes, alleys and stairways. The Ouro Preto stream, formerly the Tripuí, passes under the Ponte dos Contos, from 1744, next to the Casa dos Contos, and the Horto dos Contos fills the valley floor with a 2.5 km trail.

Highland climate

The climate is tropical highland: the rains run from October to April, winter is dry, and June and July have cold nights and occasional frost. The nearest station with a World Meteorological Organization climate normal is in Belo Horizonte, about 70 km away and 916 m above sea level, and it records 339 mm of rain in December and 5 mm in July (1991–2020 normal); Ouro Preto, higher up, is colder than the capital. Inmet recorded 0 °C on June 15, 1925 in the city.

Baroque of Minas: what to look at in the churches

Ouro Preto's churches were decorated in the transition from Baroque to Rococo, and two names dominate the visit. Antônio Francisco Lisboa, Aleijadinho (Ouro Preto, c. 1738–1814), was a sculptor, carver and designer; of the more than 400 works linked to his name, most are attributed by similarity of style, without documents, and the biography mixes fact and legend. Manuel da Costa Ataíde (Mariana, 1762–1830) painted ceilings in perspective with vivid colors and with angels and saints of mestizo features, and added the flesh tones to several of Aleijadinho's sculptures. On the visit, notice the soapstone of the portals and pulpits, easier to carve than ordinary stone, and the contrast between the older gilded carving of Pilar and the lighter white and gold of São Francisco.

University town

The Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto was born in 1969 from the Escola de Farmácia, from 1839, and the Escola de Minas, from 1876, and brought students from all over the Southeast to the city. Many of them live in repúblicas: the Repúblicas Federais de Ouro Preto are 67 houses run by the residents themselves, and alumni return for the parties of October 12, the anniversary of the Escola de Minas, and of April 21. The cultural calendar includes the Festival de Inverno, organized with Mariana, the Mostra de Cinema de Ouro Preto (CineOP), in June, the Fórum das Letras, in November, and Tudo é Jazz, a festival that began in the city in 2002.

Music, procession and congado

The Museu da Inconfidência keeps the archive of scores gathered by the musicologist Francisco Curt Lange, with masses and motets by composers from Minas of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Casa da Ópera, now the Teatro Municipal, opened on June 6, 1770. The religious calendar remains full: Holy Week with processions, the Mês do Rosário in October and the reinados and festivities of the Rosário and of Santa Efigênia, with congo guards. The painter Alberto da Veiga Guignard (1896–1962), who spent his last 18 years in Minas and painted Ouro Preto often, has a museum of his own in the center.

Romanceiro da Inconfidência (1953), Cecília Meireles

In 85 romances, plus settings and opening and closing poems, Cecília Meireles tells the history of Minas from the gold rush to the Inconfidência, with slavery in the mines, Tiradentes, Tomás Antônio Gonzaga and Marília.

Marília de Dirceu (1792), Tomás Antônio Gonzaga

The love poems of the inconfidente Gonzaga to Maria Doroteia de Seixas, Marília, whose tomb is in the Museu da Inconfidência. The museum keeps a copy of the first edition.

Os Inconfidentes (1972), Joaquim Pedro de Andrade

A film about the conspiracy, from its beginning to the exile and the execution of Tiradentes, with José Wilker in the lead role. Shot in Ouro Preto during the military dictatorship, it draws on the Autos da Devassa and on Cecília Meireles's Romanceiro and uses the conspiracy to speak of the repression of the period.