The great house
46 rooms.
Fazenda Santa Clara is a historic farm in Santa Rita de Jacutinga, Minas Gerais, near the border with Rio de Janeiro state. It was founded by Francisco Tereziano Fortes de Bustamante on land granted by the imperial court in 1824, and its construction was completed in 1856. With six thousand square metres of buildings, it is one of the largest nineteenth-century rural estates surviving in Brazil: it has 46 rooms and 14 halls, two coffee-drying yards, one of them built with shells and whale oil, quarters for the enslaved and a cell that recall the harsh side of the history of slavery, and a lookout tower fitted with a large German clock made in 1840 that still works. The farm passed through several families and now belongs to the descendants of its last owners, who welcome visitors on organised tours. Well-known Brazilian television series have been filmed here. Booking the tour in advance is advisable.
46 rooms.
Still running.
Shells and whale oil.
Santa Rita de Jacutinga municipality, south-eastern Minas Gerais
No, visits are by organised tour, best booked ahead.