The capital of the state of Minas Gerais since 1897, Belo Horizonte was only a few years earlier carved out of the forest surrounding a gold-diggers' settlement called Curral del Rei, which was founded in 1701. Because it was an entirely new city, it could be laid out on a grid plan with intersecting diagonal avenues modeled on Washington, DC. Its name, meaning beautiful horizon, is apt, both for the mountains that ring the city and for its own Modernist and Postmodern skyline. The city was built at the height of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles and has continued to embrace contemporary architecture ever since. Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer designed several of his first buildings here in the 1940s, giving the city some of his best-known works and top tourist attractions. Later buildings have continued to match his high design standards.
Praça da Liberdade (Freedom Square)
The large park-filled plaza in the city center was designed to be the hub of state administration and power, with the Palácio do Governo (Government Building) and the public library. The Art Deco style Palácio Cristo Rio was built in the 1940s, and towering above the square is Edificio Niemeyer, a sinuously curved apartment building that is one of his most famous early works.
São Francisco de Assis
The first of architect Oscar Niemeyer's major works stands above a lake in the park-filled suburb of Pampulha. The parabolic curves of the church's roof seem to anticipate architectural forms he later used in Brasília. The exterior is covered in azulejo tile panels by Cândido Portinari, and more of his work decorates the interior. The building's design caused such a furor in the church hierarchy that, although it was completed several decades earlier, it was not consecrated until 1969. The surrounding gardens were designed by preeminent landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. Walk around the lake to admire the church's silhouette mirrored in the lake and to see the curved Casa do Baile, scene of fashionable parties and dances in the 1940s.
Museu de Arte (Art Museum)
The first building designed and built by Oscar Niemeyer, in 1940, stands high above the lake in the suburb of Pampulha and, along with Niemeyer's church of São Francisco de Assis, is surrounded by the Burle Marx Sculpture Gardens. The building was converted into the Museum of Arts in 1957 and displays paintings, graphics, sculptures, ceramics, and films. A café overlooks the grounds, where there are sculptures by José Pedrosa, August Zamoyski, and Alfredo Ceschiatti.
Mercado Central (Central Market)
One of the liveliest and most colorful places in the city is the huge market building, where you'll find everything from food to canaries in its 400-odd stalls. Vendors appear to be in perpetual motion as they hawk fruits and vegetables, cheese, sausages, religious items, herbal medicines, candy, drinks, meats, flowers, nuts, household utensils, prepared foods, pets, and handicrafts. Stop to watch as the fruit sellers peel and slice whole pineapples with a machete, and wait your turn for a seat in one of the tiny lunch stands to sample local dishes. The market is open daily, although only until 1 pm on Sundays and holidays.
Museu de Artes e Oficios (Arts and Crafts Museum)
The spacious Praça da Estacão is a venue for outdoor concerts and festivals, bounded on one side by the former rail station, now housing the Arts and Crafts Museum. The tools and arts of Brazil's pre-industrial era are displayed and interpreted, including implements used for sewing, weaving, spinning, woodworking, building, and other trades and crafts. The station is an important landmark in Belo Horizonte's history as the arrival point for all the materials required for building the new capital.
Parque Mangabeiras
This large park at the edge of the city spreads across the steep slope of the Serra do Curral, where the source streams of the Rio das Velhas join. Within the park are a primeval forest, a lake, several springs, playing fields, children's rides, walking and jogging paths, an open-air theater, and an amphitheater. Buses leave from the entrance to loop through the park, stopping at various attractions including the Mirante da Mata, where there is a sweeping view of Belo Horizonte. Praça do Papa, from which there is also a good city view, was named for Pope John Paul II, who conducted a mass here during his visit to Brazil in 1980. Guides love to point out Rua do Amendoim, where an optical illusion makes cars appear to defy gravity by rolling uphill.