Ouro Preto, Tiradentes & Colonial Minas, Brazil

widely regarded as Aleijadinho's masterpiece; richly carved facade + interior with Athayde ceiling. The single most important baroque church in Brazil

one of the richest church interiors in Minas, lavishly gilded; "Basílica Menor."

twelve soapstone prophets on the sanctuary stairway + seven Passion chapels; UNESCO-inscribed 1985, a crowning achievement of baroque art

eight processions across Holy Week over colored-sawdust street carpets. The marquee cultural event

Minas's first capital + the largest gold mine open to the public on Earth

car-light historic core, art galleries on the Rota dos Atêlieres, horse-drawn wagon rides, boutique pousadas; Minas's most intimate romantic base

vintage steam locomotive, 12 km through 19th-century countryside, weekends only; a slow, romantic set-piece

Aleijadinho-attributed São Francisco de Assis church, the railway roundhouse & museum, Tancredo Neves Memorial, Solar dos Neves. A cultured half-day paired with Tiradentes

working/historic farm estates around Tiradentes and the Serra circuit; ride or walk trails once cut by gold prospectors, swim beneath waterfalls

Minas is Brazil's largest producer of artisanal cachaça; the tropeiros carried Paraty cachaça up the Royal Road and it arrived already aged

28th edition 21–30 Aug 2026; celebrated chefs, tasting menus, classes, shows; Condé Nast-recognized among the world's best places to eat 2026

~100 km from Belo Horizonte; canyons, waterfalls, maned wolf + giant anteater, hikes easy→challenging