TRIP TO
OURO PRETO
From the trip to Ouro Preto, we have learned a lot of
things:
In the Tiradentes Square, we saw where Tiradentes died
and had his head decapitated.
In Jeje Mine,
we learned a horrible thing: the boys were tied and castrated to reduce hormone
growth and let the little people to continue working in mina. Just small
children or slaves dug the mine because it was too narrow and the adult slaves did
not fit there. 950 tons of gold, about 26 kilograms per day, were extracted. The slaves took birds into the mines and when they died was a sign that
the air quality was at a critical level and it was time to leave the mine.
In the Passagem Mine, we learned that the deeper,
hotter it gets; and that the work was too dangerous and slaves could die.
Slaves they retired after 15 years of work, for health reasons, but some could
not live for it. Slaves could die by explosions, landslides, cinose and
silicosis (thin sand enters the lungs and petrifies them). Also died because
hospitals that were outside the mine were always crowded and the workers were
diagnosed with common ailments to not harm the owner of the mine.
The Passage Mine is the largest gold mine open to public viewing in the world.
Before, the Museum of Inconfidentes had two functions: camera house, upstairs, and chain
for slaves, downstairs. Now, books, frames, beds, oratories, weighing
instruments, collection and separation of gold objects of slaves and tombstone are
exposed.
We also
visited three churches:
*
St. Francis of Assisi, who had a black Madonna and angels, and also had
numbers on the ground, which are graves. People were buried there to get closer
to God. The Church was built in the rococo style. It has its exterior rich
detail made of soapstone, the church interior is also well detailed, with walls
and ceilings covered with carved wood and gold plated pieces.
*
Nossa Senhora do Pilar, which was built with 400 pounds of gold and 400
kilograms of silver. Is the richest and most popular of Ouro Preto. To attend
to it, people should belong to a brotherhood, and should be rich and probably
were white; and
*
the Santa Efigênia, which is far from the historic center and on top of
a hill. This church was built by a black fraternity. There are so many elements
of African culture represented in the details of the side altars. Some examples
are black saints, black pope (representing Chico Rei), shrimp (offering made to
the entities) and 16 games of Búzios.
Caraça is
the name of a stretch of the Espinhaço, the official name of the site is the
Shrine of Our Lady Mother of Men, but the Caraça has that nickname because of
the way it's part of the mountain that resembles the face of a giant lying down.
We’ve also learned that social inequality is still permanent in society. The center of Ouro Preto
is well maintained and wealth is full of gold and riches. After we left the
center, we went to a simpler place, with a little house finished and the church
is not so chic. So, the center is a richer place and walking around town are
still found poorest places.
We had a
very good experience on this trip, we learned a lot about subjects that we did
not know. Sign in mine was pretty cool, but we were scared and imagined the
miners working. The architecture of Ouro Preto is quite different, it seems
that we are on the streets of centuries past. The nature is amazing with
several parks and nature reserves.
We love traveling and this trip was really special!!
Ana Clara
04
Carolina 08
Mariana 23
Vitória 32
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