Ouro Preto

Ouro Preto is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, known for its magnificent colonial architecture. It is located at latitude 20 ° 23'08 "south, longitude 43 ° 30'29" west and an average altitude of 1179 meters. Its population of 70,227 inhabitants, according to Census 2010 (IBGE), is distributed in 34,272 men and 35,955 women.

It was the first Brazilian city to be declared by UNESCO and Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 1980.

In the city there are 13 districts: Amarantina, Antônio Pereira, Cachoeira do Campo, Engenheiro Correia, Glaura, Lavras Novas, Miguel Burnier, Santa Rita, Santo Antônio do Leite, Santo Antônio do Salto, São Bartolomeu and Rodrigo Silva, besides the seat.

HISTÓRIA

 

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Vista parcial de Ouro Preto.

 miner began to arrive in Portugal in the late seventeenth century. In 1697 the French ambassador Rouillé mentions the arrival of Gold "Peruvian" cites 115.2 kg. Godinho, without citing the source, refers to 1699 and 725 pounds in 1701, the arrival of 1,785 pounds.

The origin of Villa Rica is in the Padre Faria, founded by Antonio Dias de Oliveira, by Father João Faria Fialho and Colonel Thomas Lopes de Camargo and a brother, circa 1698.

The village was founded in 1711 by merging several of these camps, becoming the county seat, with the description of Villa Rica. In 1720 he was chosen as capital of the new captaincy of Minas Gerais. In 1823, after the Independence of Brazil, Vila Rica was awarded the title of Imperial City, given by D. Pedro I of Brazil, officially becoming the capital of the then province of Minas Gerais and was renamed as the Imperial city of Ouro Preto. In 1839 was established the School of Pharmacy and in 1876 the School of Mines. It was the capital of the province and later the state until 1897.

It has an area of 1,245.114 km ².

The city has inspired the creation of several other cities, if not with the same name as Ouro Preto in Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Rio Grande do Norte and Ouro Preto do Oeste in Rondônia, Ouro Preto neighborhoods in Belo Horizonte / MG, Maceió / AL, Olinda / PE and other places of minor, curiously, was created in Indiana, United States, a city that emerged after the founder read an article that talked about just the city of Ouro Preto, creating there City of Brazil, in the year 1844.