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Situated in the heart of Minas Gerais the Pousada Senhora dos Remédios is ideal as a base to visit many places of great interest including the historic town of Ouro Preto and Diamantina , both areas were designated as World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its outstanding Baroque architecture.

Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, the second most populous and fourth largest by area in the federation. The capital is the city of Belo Horizonte, located near the central area. Main producer of coffee and milk of the country, Minas Gerais is known by the patrimony of architecture and conserved colonial art in historical cities as Ouro Preto and Tiradentes.

In the south, the tourist points are the hydro mineral ranches, such as Caxambu, São Lourenço e São Tomé das Letras, Monte Verde and the national parks of Ibitipoca and Aiuruoca.

The landscape of the State is marked by mountains, valleys and caverns. In the Serra do Cipó, Sete Lagoas, Cordisburgo and Lagoa Santa, the caves and waterfalls are the attractions. The north of the State, including the capital Belo Horizonte, has beautiful cities between mountains and has many farm-hotels.

Minas Gerais was formed mainly by colonists who searched for veins of gold (discovered 1693) and gems, and later diamonds. (The name literally means general mines, a shortening from Minas dos Matos Gerais, or mines of the general woods, this being originally the hinterland to the incipient colonies of São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga and São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro.)

These helped to boost occupation of the inner lands and led to the foundation of several new villages. The first capital and seat of the local see was the city of Mariana; it was later moved to Vila Rica. In the late 18th century, Vila Rica was the biggest city in Brazil and one of the biggest of the Americas in population.

As the gold mines were exhausted over the 19th century, the city lost its importance; it was later renamed Ouro Preto and remained the state capital until the construction of the all-new, planned city of Belo Horizonte at the turn of the 20th century.

The gold cycle left its mark in cities such as Mariana, Ouro Preto, Diamantina, Sabará, Tiradentes and São João del Rei. The relative isolation from European influence, added to the huge influx of gold and other valuable minerals, helped the local people to develop their own style of art, which became known as Barroco Mineiro.

Prime examples of this period are the richly decorated churches at the colonial cities, some of them preserved today as museums. The most important artist of this period was Antônio Lisboa, who became known as Aleijadinho. His statues and paintings are now highly valued by experts as one of the most refined artistic expressions outside Europe at that time.

In addition to art and architecture, there was an explosion of musical activity in Minas Gerais in the 18th century. More >>