Ouro Preto 2014: What have we learned? : Ouro Preto

Ouro Preto

When we travelled to Ouro Preto we learned a lot of things. We learned in “Mina da Passagem” that the temperature is low and it’s humid. The slaves who had to work in this mine had to be little to pass through in small places and short and strong to support the heavy work.

The streets in Ouro Preto are very inclined and clean. The houses of Ouro Preto are declared historical heritage of UNESCO and have a pattern: they are one beside the other, have little balconies and they’re very well conserved.

Praça Tiradentes is a very interesting place in Ouro Preto. Praça Tiradentes was built in 1896 in about 100 years after Tiradentes’s death and the objective is to show that Tiradentes was a hero.

Another interesting place is “Casa dos Contos”. This construction had a lot of functions thought the years. “Casa dos Contos” was a coin house and Senzala, the place where the slaves stayed. Today “Casa dos Contos” is a museum which it’s visited by a lot of people.

Ouro Preto’s churches are beautiful places. We visited three churches: “Nossa Senhora do Pilar”, “São Francisco de Assis” and “Santa Efigênia”. All of three have Barroco art and “Nossa Senhora do Pilar”, in particular, has 400Kg of gold making the church more beautiful. The “Santa Efigênia” has a particular feature created by a black entity.

When we visited “Santuário do Caraça” we had the best experience ever. We saw the “Lobo Guará” it was wonderful! Today “Santuário do Craça” is a museum but before it used to be a monastery. One night when one of the monastery students was studying he fell asleep and a book caught fire, burning down the library.

However, the trip to Ouro Preto was amazing! We have learned a lot of different things and we have had the chance to know our class mates better. It was an experience that we will never forget!