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Hotels and Castles in Ouro Preto

The city of Ouro Preto (formerly called "Vila Rica") was founded on July 8th 1711 after the discovery by pioneers of gold. They settled there, close to the Minas Gerais rivers, and a lot of gold seekers came around, soon accompanied by merchants, attracted by the propects of becoming rich.

Ouro Preto has soon become a prosperous city but also a large one : around 1750, it used to count more inhaitants than Rio de Janeiro or New York. The wealth of the city has permitted the building of numerous baroque churches. After the end of gold mines exploitation in Minas Gerais, the city became abandonned and fewly changed after that period. The actual city of Ouro Preto still remains a colonial paved city. This city has been ranked recently in UNESCO World Patrimony. Its vocation is to be a centre of education, science, new technologies, art and culture.