Tiradentes, São João del Rei and Bichinho

This weekend I visited some nice colonial towns in Minas Gerais with a group of friends. We stayed in Tiradentes and visited from there the city São João del Rei and the tiny town of Bichinho.

Tiradentes is one of the best preserved colonial towns in Brazil. Nearly all the houses are declared national cultural heritage. The churches are beautiful examples of Latin-american baroque architecture. On the photo above you see the Matriz de Santo Antônio which is one of the churches in Brazil with the most gold inside. In this case 482 kg of gold were used in the interior of the church! As explaination: They were build during the great gold rush in this region.

I enjoyed a lot to stroll through the steep streets of Tiradentes and have a look around in all the little shops of arts and crafts and specialities.

This is the typical food of the state Minas Gerais. Various kinds of meats, vegetables and rice cooked on wood-fired stoves.

Coincidentally we witnessed a religious parade. They carried figures of saints decorated with many flowers through the streets.

On the way to Bichinho we stopped at a museum for antique cars. They exhibit 60 old cars from different years and brands, even some with wooden wheels. 

Bichinho is a very little town with actually only one street, but nearly every house is a shop or exhibition for local arts and crafts. The have a lot of artworks with wood and fabrics.

On the next photo are the famous namoradeiras. They are very typical artworks from the state Minas Gerais. You see them in all the smaller towns in many of the windows. Apparently they are there waiting for a "namorado" - for a boyfriend or prince to come and find them.

On the next day we went bush walking. First we climbed the Serra de São João and walked along the mountain crest with a spectacular view to both sides, before descending again. Parts of the way was the Calçada dos Escravos - a trail build by the African slaves that were in this region to work in the gold mines. On the way down we stopped at some waterfalls. It was a really nice walking trail.

On the last day we took an old steam train from Tiradentes to São João del Rei. The famous "Maria Fumaça" is one of the very few trains in Brazil that still transport passengers and besides this it is surely one of the oldest ones.

São João del Rei is also a colonial city but has grown a lot since than and therefore has lost a lot of its charm. The churches although are still very impressive in numbers (there is a church at every corner!) and architecture. São João del Rei is also known for the arts and crafts with tin.