Three hundred thirty kilometers from worldwide famous Rio de Janeiro, tourists will find a place of spectacular beauty - Belo Horizonte. The city’s name means “Beautiful Horizon” in Brazilian Portuguese. The marvelous city amazes tourists with its lush vegetation. There are more than twenty parks in the territory of this settlement with a total of almost two million plants. Besides this, Belo Horizonte is famous for its futurist architecture.
The history of Belo Horizonte started in 1701. Initially, there was a cattle farm on the site of the modern city. The area was developing quickly, and so new settlers started moving to this region. The peaceful and tranquil settlement was slowly growing in size. Everything was fine until the start of the rivalry between different regions of the country, which took place in 1893. For the country, this was a real threat of unrest in the state. In order to stop all tensions and arguments, the country’s authorities decided to move the capital to the small settlement on the site of modern Belo Horizonte. The settlement changed its name to Cidade de Minas.
Why should tourists visit Belo Horizonte? This settlement is rich in numerous landmarks. Without a doubt, Palacio das Artes is one of them. This is the largest concert venue in the whole of Latin America. The grand opening of the new complex took place in 1971. Nowadays, the total area of the venue is approximately ninety thousand square meters.
Palacio das Artes is a truly unique building that includes three theaters, four art galleries, and a scientific center dedicated to cultural studies performed by local scientists. There are even a library and a cinema that screens new domestic and foreign films. In numerous halls of the palace, visitors can enjoy performances of local talents. If you like opera or ballet, you will find it interesting to attend the venue.
However, this is not everything that Palacio das Artes is famous for. There is a large park that grows in the territory of the complex. When exploring local streets, it feels like there are trees and flowers everywhere. Thanks to lush vegetation, the air is always clean and fresh. It is a true pleasure to take a stroll here.
Continue your acquaintance with the city in the museum of natural history that is open in the former territory of Fazenda Boa Vista. There was a scientific station in this building in the second half of the twentieth century. This station was involved in agricultural studies. With time, the station evolved into the institute of agronomy. Nowadays, the building hosts the exhibition of the museum with many precious archaeological findings, a large collection of minerals, and various herbs used for curing diseases and making various medicines.
When finishing your tour in the city, don’t forget to take a look at the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi. This is a gorgeous Catholic church that looks nothing like usual churches that we can see everywhere. The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi was built in the 40s of the 20th century. The building is a gorgeous example of Brazilian modernism. The concrete church of an unusual shape looks more like a hangar for airplanes.
Fabulous figures and creative abstract drawings decorate the façade. Inside, the church has panel walls covered with fabulous drawings by Portinari. For many years, the church was banned because of its unusual design and one-of-a-kind shape that is so untypical for churches. However, the church started serving its original purpose after renovation. Catholic masses have become regular in it.
There is an international airport, Aeroporto Internacional Tancredo Neves, approximately 30 kilometers away from the central part of Belo Horizonte. Tourists can easily reach the city from any large city in Latin America. Moreover, there are flights from Lisbon to this miraculous land. If you are departing from Rio de Janeiro, you will spend only 25 minutes in the air. There is also a domestic airport that accommodates flights from Rio and Sao Paolo. Tourists can reach Belo Horizonte from these cities by car. A train ride will be the longest because the only train departs from Vitoria. The ride lasts roughly thirteen hours.
