City lights
At sunset.
enioprado — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Marina Campos Vinhal — CC BY 2.0 · MarcoXavier2005 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Paulo JC Nogueira — CC BY-SA 3.0
Israel Pinheiro Square, better known as Praça do Papa, is a square in the Mangabeiras district at the foot of the Serra do Curral range, at the end of Avenida Agulhas Negras, more than 1,100 metres up. Its official name honours Israel Pinheiro, a former governor of Minas Gerais, while the popular name comes from Pope John Paul II's visit to the city, when about two million people gathered here. Its view is the draw: from its edge the whole of Belo Horizonte spreads out beneath the mountains, so people come at sunset and in the evening to see the city lights. Nearby are Mangabeiras Park, designed by Burle Marx (which has its own page), and the «Peanut Street», known for an optical illusion in which objects seem to roll uphill by themselves. The square is free and open, and easy to combine with Mangabeiras Park in one visit.
At sunset.
Behind the square.
An optical illusion.
Mangabeiras district, end of Avenida Agulhas Negras, Belo Horizonte
At sunset and in the evening, to see all of Belo Horizonte and its lights from over 1,100 metres; the square is free.
