Fazenda Pé do Morro
On the royal road.
Glauco Umbelino from Diamantina, Brasil — CC BY 2.0 · wanderley santos vie… — CC BY-SA 3.0 · wanderley santos vie… — CC BY-SA 3.0 · wanderley santos vie… — CC BY-SA 3.0 · wanderley santos vie… — CC BY-SA 3.0 · wanderley santos vie… — CC BY-SA 3.0 · wanderley santos vie… — CC BY-SA 3.0 · wanderley santos vie… — CC BY-SA 3.0
Ouro Branco is a town of about 40,000 people in central Minas Gerais, a short drive from Ouro Preto, at the foot of the Serra de Ouro Branco and on the historic «Estrada Real», the royal road that linked the gold regions to the coast. Its name means «white gold»: in the late seventeenth century prospectors from Borba Gato's expedition reached it, and one of them, Miguel Garcia, found gold of a whitish colour, which gave the place its name. It became a parish in 1724 and is counted among the oldest settlements in Minas. The municipality holds nationally listed eighteenth-century landmarks, and the seat of the Fazenda Pé do Morro, four kilometres from town at the foot of the range on the royal road, protected since 2009. Mountains around it are good for hiking and viewpoints.
On the royal road.
Trails.
Since the 1600s.
Ouro Branco, central Minas Gerais state
Because the gold found here was whitish.