I think Ouro Preto might be sort of an unknown destination for foreign travellers, but among brazilians it's a popular city. It's the model of a historic town in Brazil, declared very early as a national monument, in the 1930's, even before the creation of IPHAN, the institute responsible for the preservation of brazilian cultural heritage. It was one of the first preserved heritages in the country, so Ouro Preto has a long background of actions of preservation and restoration, and it isn't a surprise that it was the first WHS of Brazil. The city is also very related to two figures every brazilian study in history books of elementary school: Tiradentes, the national hero of the failed independence mutiny (the day of his death is a national holiday), and Aleijadinho, the baroque sculptor whose works are an important reason of inscription of the nearby WHS Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas.

I spent three very rainy days in December 2019 there. The streets are steep, some very steep, so not the best weather to walk around the city and its stone paved ways. Because of its hilly location the city doesn't have an orthogonal layout, usual in colonial towns, or even close to it. The map of the city looks like a mess, what makes it fun to explore. The main sights are well signposted, so I didn't get lost. Some buildings have small signs on the facades explaining a bit of the attraction, what is rare in Brazil. The overall feeling of the city made me remember of the portugueses cities of Oporto and Guimarães, specially for its very similar row of houses. It all looks very homogeneous now, but there's some issues: after it being protected as national heritage, the city still had a lot of empty spaces, but the new buildings had to look like the colonial ones. The sign on the facade of the Vila Rica movie theater tells an interesting history: the building was remodeled in the 1950's to look more colonial, because the former preservation authorities didn't like the eccletic/neoclassic style.    

Despite the Tiradentes square, with the Inconfidência Museum (the former City Hall), the main attractions of Ouro Preto are its many churches. The Basilica of Nossa Senhora do Pilar is a mandatory visit, with its very baroque interior, lots of gold decorations and a theater feeling caused by the cabins and its red velvet curtains. The church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário, a church of the enslaved people, is also a highlight for its peculiar shape, all curved and round forms. Aleijadinho made stone carvings on the facades of three churches, around the main doors: Nossa Senhora do Carmo, São Francisco de Assis and Bom Jesus de Matosinhos. In the interior of the first, he also made a stone washbasin, and in the second, the stone pulpits. I didn't visit the last one, but the interior of the other churches are also beautiful, in rococo style, so more light, less ornated. Aleijadinho is buried in another church, the Basilica of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, that also has a little museum of his work, but I was told it's now closed for restoration. The artist worked mostly with a local kind of stone, named soap stone (pedra sabão). In front of São Francisco de Assis church there's an open air market, very popular, of handmade products made of that stone.

The city is very appealing, with some breathtaking views. Even with a bad weather, it can be charmful, like the view I had sometimes from the window of my room, of two churches on top of hills in a misty landscape. It may look too touristic around Tiradentes square, with souvenir shops and that stuff, but walking a little further it's possible to see everyday life. Ouro Preto also has an important university, so the historic centre is filled with students housing with funny names (in portuguese only, sorry guys). Maybe it was because of the weather, but I had an impression of a calm town. It's a place that makes me want to go back there someday to explore more of it.