About Us

At the end of the 17th century, the prosperity of sugar mills in the Dutch, French and British colonies of Central America made sugar production in Brazilian territory face a serious crisis. It was then that the Portuguese Crown began to encourage its employees and the population of the colony, especially those from the Piratininga Plateau, current city of São Paulo, to explore the still unknown lands in search of precious minerals, starting the first gold rush of the modern history.

As a result of these clearings, several settlements or camps were founded in the interior of the country due to the large number of people, called bandeirantes, who moved to these places. It was during this period that the Vilas of São João Del Rei, Ribeirão do Carmo, now Mariana, Vila Real de Sabará, of Pitanguí and Vila Rica of Ouro Preto, now Ouro Preto, were founded, among others.

The origin of Ouro Preto is in the Padre Faria camp, founded by the pioneer Antônio Dias de Oliveira, by the Priest João de Faria Fialho and by Colonel Tomás Lopes de Camargo, around 1698.

By joining these various camps, becoming the seat of the council, it was elevated to the category of village in 1711 with the name of Vila Rica. In 1720 it was chosen as the capital of the new captaincy of Minas Gerais. In 1823, after the independence of Brazil, Vila Rica received the title of Imperial City (name that characterizes this inn), conferred by D. Pedro I of Brazil, officially becoming the capital of the then province of Minas Gerais, becoming elevated the quality of city and designated as Imperial City of Ouro Preto.

On April 4, 1839, approved by the Provincial Assembly of Minas Gerais, the School of Pharmacy was created. Therefore, a pharmaceutical education began, which became a pioneering activity in Latin America in the teaching of Pharmacy disconnected from the Faculties of Medicine, which did not exist in colonial times. In 1876, another institution emerged in Ouro Preto: The School of Mines. It was officially inaugurated on October 12, 1876, conceived by Emperor Dom Pedro II and founded by Claude Henri Gorceix on October 12, 1876, being a pioneer in geological, mineralogical and metallurgical studies. These two institutions would later be incorporated and instituted as the Federal University of Ouro Preto.

In 1897 Ouro Preto lost its status as a capital of Minas Gerais, especially as it did not present viable alternatives to urban physical development, and its headquarters were transferred to the old Curral Del'Rey (where a new planned and spacious city, Belo Horizonte, was being prepared) .

The Baroque Art Mineira, which developed between the beginning of the 18th and the 19th century, present in so many churches, museums and houses, is a notable attraction of the place for culture lovers. Nature, green and mountainous, is also present and can be observed from the countless viewpoints in Ouro Preto or even from the 1,772 meters of altitude of Pico do Itacolomy.

In 1980, the beautiful city of Ouro Preto was the first Brazilian site to be listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Ouro Preto also became known as an "open-air museum", whose slopes guard an unrivaled colonial architectural ensemble preserving a large nucleus of colonial houses, which, in every corner and at every moment of celebration, enchant and transport the visitor to a unique important period in the history of Brazil.