"On the lengthy mountain ranges that run parallel to the Brazilian coast from the southern State of Rio Grande do Sul up to the northern State of Rio Grande do Norte is found the remains of Brazil's Atlantic Rain Forest ... 95,640 sq. kilometers from an original 1,080,000 sq. km.'' (From Brazilian Ecotourism Guide, Libris Editora, p. 18.)
Stretches of the forest can be seen from the plane flying along the coast, and over Rio de Janeiro they surround the surrealistic granite peaks behind the famous winding sea front. The excitement aroused by this scenery on arrival in Rio is matched only by the awe which the early travelers described on their arrival by sea, when Guanabara Bay was the ideal harbor for the Portuguese fleet on its regular visits to pick up the gold from the "Capitania de Minas Gerais".
For more than a century after Brazil was discovered, the Atlantic Forest was "the Brazil," and most of Brazil's history is along this coastal belt. The area between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, going inland towards the mountains of Minas Gerais has been of difficult access until quite recently, and hence many treasures from the past have been preserved, and are still little known despite their great cultural interest and scenic beauty. The mountains rising to over 7000 feet in the Serra da Bocaina and Serra dos Órgãos, and 9000 in the Agulhas Negras at Itataia Park, acted for a long time as a barrier to expansion inland. The surviving areas of the dense Atlantic Rain Forest which covered them still contain flora and fauna as diverse as in any tropical forest. Parts were cleared in the 17th century to plant sugar, in the 18th to feed the increased population of the gold mining areas, in the 19th for coffee.
Modern paved roads replace the ways which formerly carried gold and coffee to the coast, slaves and merchandise inland. They still wind along the river valleys that awed the early settlers, between and over the iron mountains of Minas Gerais and the granite mountains of the "Serra do Mar" whose forests go down to the sea. A week or two between the airports of Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte is rewarded with more of the real Brazil than a 5000 km. circuit of its capitals. An association of private hotel owners has recently been formed which pools their first hand knowledge to help plan such tours. The name "Roteiros de Charme," implies that the journeys can be as pleasant and interesting as the inns on the way.
SAFE HARBORS
AND GOLD ROUTESRio de Janeiro was discovered for the Portuguese crown in January 1531, but was first colonized by the French. In 1555 a knight of Malta, Nicholas Villegagnon, landed in Guanabara Bay on an uninhabited island, which now bears his name and lies beside the present Santos Dumont airport, and built a fort which he named after the French admiral Coligny. The French allied themselves with the local Tamoio Indians, but a Portuguese force from Bahia, reinforced by Indians from Padre Anchieta's settlement in São Vicente, drove them out. Not till 1570 was Rio firmly in Portuguese hands.
No way could be found through the wild forests and mountains above and behind Guanabara Bay for at least another century. It was not till the beginning of the 18th century that a pass was discovered by the picturesque "Black River" (Rio Preto) that permitted a direct route to Guanabara Bay for the gold from the mines in Minas Gerais, and for soldiers and supplies from the capital. After many vicissitudes, including a second landing by French corsairs in Guanabara Bay, the "Caminho Novo" was inaugurated in 1723. Parts of the old road, and the once impassable "Rio Preto," can be seen from the modern highway; this clear and turbulent river is still the border between the modern States of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.
Previous to this time, gold from the recently discovered mines had been taken by routes nearer to São Paulo, along the "Costa Verde" or Green Coast, where several donkey tracks were in use down the forested escarpment above the sea known as the "Serra do Mar." It was natural that when corsairs threatened the Portuguese fleet in Rio de Janeiro, Parati should continue to be the safe harbor which received the gold. Its well-preserved colonial streets and fine houses testify to the importance of the old port. Long abandoned cannons lie on some of the many islands in the clear waters of the bay, now frequented by fishermen and small groups of snorkeling tourists on their isolated beaches.
PETRÓPOLIS,
A ROYAL RETREATThe gold mines were mostly exhausted by 1821 when Dom Pedro, son of the Portuguese king, rode to Vila Rica to prevent an uprising of the discontented mineiros. He was then able to assume, as Pedro I, the crown of a Brazil independent of Portugal. His way took him past the junction of the rivers Rio Quitandinha and Piabanha where 30 years later his son Pedro II established Petrópolis, the summer retreat of the Brazilian court.
The basis of the economy that built Petrópolis was coffee. The modern road to Minas crosses the river Paraíba, along whose valley can be seen some of the great plantation houses of the "coffee barons" of Dom Pedro's court. Petrópolis, now an hour's scenic drive from Rio, has become a busy town, with good restaurants and hotels nearby. The Summer Palace, now a museum, has been maintained much as it was when occupied by the Brazilian Royal Family.
MINAS'S BAROQUE
MONUMENTSAnother mountain range, the Serra da Mantiqueira, lies between the mansions of Petrópolis and the Paraíba valley, and the Portuguese colonial towns which in the 18th century sent gold on donkeyback through the "Serra do Mar" to the coast. Here the unspoilt colonial buildings, the baroque churches, astonish and delight the modern visitor by their grace and surroundings.
These are towns where the traveler can walk unmolested through the winding streets, or rest with a good book in a garden or beside a fountain, or swim in a clear stream among the mountainous landscapes which frame the rich Portuguese colonial architecture that has made them famous. Old gold workings can be seen, and the colonial centers maintain cultural traditions ranging from handicrafts to locally composed church music.
TIRADENTES AND
OURO PRETOThe closest of these towns is Tiradentes, the old Vila São José whose rich Portuguese colonial architecture is framed by a part of the surviving forest at the foot of the Serra São José. The mountain is now an environmental preservation area, good walking country with streams and small waterfalls in the high Savannah, and paths through the forest at the foot of the cliff.
Its main church of Santo Antônio is one of Brazil's finest baroque masterpieces, dating from the first half of the eighteenth century, its drinking fountain, the "Chafariz," fed from springs in the forest is one of the finest of its kind. Fifteen km. away by road is São João del Rey, another colonial town of importance; these two towns are also joined by a narrow gauge steam railway, inaugurated by Dom Pedro in 1889, which still runs at weekends using the original rolling stock.
The museum in Tiradentes is a fine 18th century house once occupied by Padre Toledo, a priest who played a leading part in the abortive uprising known as the "Inconfidência," inspired partly by the republican ideas of the French Revolution and the American Independence, and partly by the need of some of the owners of the gold mines to avoid paying taxes overdue to the Portuguese Crown at a time of diminishing revenues. Tiradentes was the nickname of the idealist among the conspirators, born in the administrative district of Vila de São José. He was executed and the other conspirators exiled. In 1889 Brazil became a republic and Tiradentes a national hero; his birthplace was renamed after him.
Further inland, a picturesque and interesting road leads to Congonhas do Campo and Ouro Preto. The first is notable for the inspired Basilica and Stations of the Cross by the Brazilian sculptor Aleijadinho, also responsible for the façade of the Santo Antônio church in Tiradentes, and other masterpieces in Ouro Preto.
Ouro Preto, formerly "Vila Rica," 18th century capital of the goldmining capital of the "Capitania de Minas Gerais," has been considered one of Mankind's Cultural Heritage Centers by UNESCO since 1983. Its many churches, fine houses, and urban spaces were preserved intact as the 19th century capital of the Province of Minas Gerais, and constitute the greatest concentration of Brazil's unique baroque architecture. Close by is Mariana, seat of the bishopric since colonial times.
Three weeks is a reasonable time to enjoy this part of Brazil, divided approximately into a week for touring, a week by the seaside, and a week in the mountains. But a week's itinerary of less than 800 km gives a good taste of what is available: It is one hour's drive from Galeão airport by Rio de Janeiro to Petrópolis where the museum opens at midday. You may lunch at Itaipava and have leisurely drive to Tiradentes or you can ride the direct bus from Rio to São João del Rey. Three nights at the Solar da Ponte (to allow two full days — a minimum). By road to Congonhas and Ouro Preto (about five hours including lunch and a visit to the Basilica). Allow not less than two or three nights in Ouro Preto. The Pousada Mondego can arrange direct transport to or from Belo Horizonte airport (about two hours).
No Brazilian itinerary is complete without at least a week among the treasures left by Brazil's two great economic cycles: gold in the eighteenth century and coffee in the nineteenth.