Belo Horizonte

Belo Horizonte (a Portuguese name meaning beautiful horizon) is the third largest metropolitan area and fourth largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador). It is the capital of Minas Gerais state, located in the southeast of the country. With a population of almost 2.4 million and over 5 million in the official metropolitan area, Belo Horizonte — or "Beagá" as it is more familiarly known from the sound of its initials BH in Portuguese — is a place of intense economical and cultural activity. It has a good infrastructure for national and international events.

The city is notorious for its visionary construction and for some contrast between new and old buildings.

History

The metropolis was once a small village, founded by a prospector from São Paulo named João Leite da Silva Ortiz, who found a location with agreeable weather, decided to stay, and, in 1701, abandoning an expedition to find gold, built a farm called "Curral d'el Rey" (archaic Portuguese for the "King's Corral"). The farm's wealth and success encouraged more people into the region, and Curral del Rey became a village surrounded by farms. Several of these were built by the Faria family. Other ones were built by the Gutierrez, and the neighborhood where the farm stood still has their name. They are still the richest Belorizontinian family and they own Telemar, one of the country's most successful telecommunication companies.

The village also grew because of the herds from the river São Francisco region, who had to pass through Curral del Rey to get to their destination. Travelers usually went to a small wooden chapel to pray to have a good trip. Because of this, the chapel, which later was demolished and replaced by a church, was called Capela da Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem, which means "Chapel of Our Lady of the Good Trip". See Catedral da Boa Viagem.

In 1889 Brazil became a republic. To enter the new era, leaving behind the monarchical past, the name "Curral Del Rey" was changed to Belo Horizonte on April 12, 1890. Belo Horizonte means "beautiful horizon" in Portuguese; the original intention was to change the name to "Novo Horizonte" (new horizon), Later, on December 17, 1893, Belo Horizonte was chosen as the construction site of the new capital of Minas Gerais, that would replace the previous state capital of Ouro Preto. The new capital would be the first planned city of Brazil and was to be called "Cidade de Minas" after its construction. It was inaugurated on December 12, 1897, the city's official birthdate, under the name of "Cidade de Minas". But this name was never popular, and in 1901 the city's name was definitively reverted back to Belo Horizonte.

One interesting feature of Belo Horizonte is the downtown street plan, featuring a regular array of perpendicular and diagonal streets designed by town planner Aarão Reis. However, the city's growth — which was especially intense in the last twenty years of the 20th century — far surpassed its planning, and the city now faces a number of infrastructure problems. About 20% of the population has no access to the sewage network, like many Brazilian cities, and floods sometimes are a problem in the slums, destroying houses and killing people in the rainy season (November to March).

Notable landmarks

Belo Horizonte, full of cultural and touristic activity, had a number of significant landmarks. In the nearby suburb of Pampulha is a collection of important buildings, including one of the largest soccer stadiums in Brazil, the Mineirão, and the Capela de São Francisco de Assis (Igreja da Pampulha), designed by the famous Brazilian architect of the modern school, Oscar Niemeyer. Pampulha is also home to the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, the largest university in the city, and one of the five largest in Brazil. In downtown (mostly run-down) Belo Horizonte, there are the neogothic Boa Viagem Cathedral, the Lourdes Basilica, the Praça da Estação (an old train station that now is also the Museum of Arts and Workmanship), the Municipal Park, the Nossa Senhora de Fátima church (Assembléia Church), and the Praça Carlos Chagas, widely known as Praça da Assembléia.

Near downtown is the famous Savassi area, where most gastronomic and cultural activities occur. It's more of an area than a neighborhood, encompassing parts of several neighborhoods such as Funcionários, São Pedro, Lourdes, and Centro (Downtown mostly run-down) itself. Locals consider Savassi one of the city's main nightlife spots.

While in Savassi, tourists may enjoy seeing the Praça da Liberdade (Liberty Square) and its surrounding buildings, including the old Governor's house (Liberty Palace), the first building to be finished during the city's planned development in the 1890's. Nearby Parque Municipal (The Municipal Park) offers a refuge from the congested city.

Tourists may also visit "Rua do Amendoim" (Peanut Street) where parked automobiles appear to roll upwards, defying gravity. Whether this is an illusion or a magnetic phenomenon is left to the visitor to decide. However, most of the effect seems to have disappeared due to housing development in the area, but mostly people still believe the street is magic.

Praça do Papa (Plaza of the Pope), located at a high point just outside the municipal area, offers a spectacular view of the entire city. There pope John Paul II himself discoursed and commented: "What a beautiful horizon!". That's why the plaza got this popular name. Nearby Parque das Mangabeiras (Mangabeiras Park) boasts extensive wildlife, with an area so huge it has its own internal bus service. It's not uncommon for tourists to see monkeys and other animals.

One of the characteristics for which Belo Horizonte is best known in Brazil is its overwhelming proportion of women to men. In the mid 1990's there were more than 175,000 more women than men. Nobody knows why, but some say that job opportunities outside the state have attracted men away from Belo Horizonte, while women have tended to stay close to their families.

Picture Gallery

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External links

Cities in Brazil | Planned cities | Cities in Minas Gerais

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Belo Horizonte

History

Notable landmarks

See also

Picture Gallery

External links