Today’s post is 1500 words, 31 photos, 2 videos, a 9 minute read. Enjoy!
Hi everyone,
This week I’ll take you on a tour of Belo Horizonte, the capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais and the first planned city in Brazil. Belo Horizonte means “beautiful horizon” in Portuguese. This name was chosen because the city is surrounded by picturesque hills that create a gorgeous landscape.
If you missed any of the eight earlier posts in this series on Brazil, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
About Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is located in the southeast region of Brazil. This city is about 275 miles (440 km) north of Rio de Janeiro and 210 miles (340 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean. As mentioned above, it’s a planned city. Once a small village founded in 1700 by the Portuguese searching for gold, it became a mining and farming community. In the late 1800s, Belo Horizonte was selected as the state capital. Soon after, a planner was engaged to layout the city in a grid like a checkerboard with wide streets similar to Washington, D.C.
As estimated 12,000-15,000 people lived in Belo Horizonte in 1900. The population grew rapidly with a surge in industrialization and the extraction of mineral resources such as gold, iron ore, bauxite, manganese, and others. Jobs drew migrants from rural areas as well as from other states in Brazil. Immigrants from Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Middle East settled in Belo Horizonte. Today the population of the city is nearly 2.5 million, the sixth largest in Brazil. The greater metro area has over 6.3 million people making it the 3rd largest metro area in Brazil after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. About 44% of the population of Belo Horizonte is classified as white, nearly 43% identifying as mixed race, and about 13% as black. An estimated 5 million enslaved people were brought to Brazil, the most of any country in the Americas. Brazil was the last country to abolish slavery in 1888. Brazil has the largest Catholic population in the world. Over 56% of the 212 million people in Brazil are Catholics, down from 80% at the turn of the century.
The economy of Belo Horizonte is described as vibrant and diversified. Service industries such as IT, biotechnology, research, tourism, fashion, and other businesses provide a majority of the GDP. On the industrial side, manufacturing of steel products, autos, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, home furnishings, and others are also important to the economy. The production of agricultural products such as beef, corn, soybeans, coffee, milk and cheese, and sugarcane contribute to the areas economy.
A Tour of Belo Horizonte
After coffee and breakfast, Diana, our host, called a taxi to take us to the usual meeting place. Diana would spend the day with the group. Our guide, Maria Paulina, wasn’t feeling well but did her best to power through the day.
Our first stop was at the viewpoint Mirante Mangabeiras. It’s one of the highest points in the city and a very popular place to view the sunset. I was amazed at the view on this beautiful day. As you view the photos and video below, note the many tall buildings. Also note that most of the buildings are white or light colored. The majority of the people live in apartments. I asked Diana if we could see here house from here. She answered in Portuguese “Out there somewhere!”
After spending several minutes taking in the view of the city, we walked around the park where I snapped a few flower photos.
Pampulha
The next stop on our tour was the area of the city known as Pampulha. In the center is a large man-made lake, Lake Pampulha.
Several cultural landmarks are found on or near this lake. The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi was designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer in the early 1940s who was influential in the design of the planned capital city of Brasilia and the UN headquarters in New York City. The church was built in the modernist style that became popular in the early 20th century. While small in size, the design is very interesting and unique. It was designed to look like the mountains that surround the city.
Apparently, the local clergy at the time were not happy with the modern design and didn’t consecrate the sanctuary until 1959, 14 years after it was completed. The Archbishop called it “the devil’s bomb shelter.” This church is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and very popular for weddings and baptisms.
Near the Church of St. Francis of Assisi are sculptures dedicated to the modernization of Belo Horizonte and Brazil. Juscelino Kubitschek (JK) was once the mayor of Belo Horizonte and later became the President of Brazil. His administration focused on economic and social development. Oscar Niemeyer was a key figure in modern architecture. Burl Marx was a landscape architect who became world famous for his modern landscape designs. Cândido Portinari was an important painter in the neo-realism style. These four fellas worked together to create the Pampulha Modern Ensemble, each contributing in their area of expertise. Quite a group to admire.
From the shore of Lake Pampulha, I could see two large stadiums. One is the home of the local football (soccer) team and the other is a multi sport arena. The city hosted the one of the semi-final games in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. 
Here’s a closer look at the main soccer stadium.
A short drive away, we stopped at the Casa do Baile (translated to English as the Ball House). Originally used as a dance hall and restaurant, it too was designed by Oscar Niemeyer as part of the Pampulha Modern Ensemble. After sitting empty for a few decades, it was restored and opened as a center for architecture and design. It hosts exhibits and cultural events. In the second photo, see the curved design to mimic the shoreline and water.
There was an exhibition by photographer and plastic artist José Manuel Ballester. While we only had a few minutes to view the exhibits, I admired his interesting work that seems to follow in the steps of the architect Oscar Niemeyer. The photo is of the Hotel Brasilia. 
We had to move along in order to have lunch. Our hosts took us to a restaurant in the private club, Minas Tennis Club. It was one of those superbly wonderful Brazilian buffets with lots of choices of meats and sides. 
Meet sweet Sophia. Her job at this restaurant was to open the door for the guests. Our arrival gave her a much more important job. She spoke nearly flawless English that she learned from watching movies and youtube. All the waitstaff were middle aged or older men, they didn’t know much English. They had to call on Sophia over to interpret when they came to take our drink orders. I thought that was very ironic, the employee lowest on the pecking order became the most important employee in the room. I struck up a conversation with Sophia and asked if I could take her photo. She agreed. After we were done eating, she came to me and asked if would take another photo, she was concerned that she looked flushed in the face. Honestly, I thought she looked great in both photos. Here’s the one she preferred. To me she was the story of the day.
After lunch we were dropped off at the indoor Municipal or Central Market for some shopping. I was mostly interested in seeing the variety of things for sale at this market such as meat, cheese, household goods, souvenirs, handcrafted items, and products made from the local minerals. There were places to eat and drink. It was a good look at the local culture.
While waiting for a taxi to take us back to Diana’s house, I shot this scene. I have no idea how anyone keeps these wires straight!
The Farewell Party
That evening we attended the Friendship Force farewell party held at the community room of one of the member’s apartment. We were entertained by some of the club members who sang a few songs including one in English just for us. It was a sweet and welcome gesture.
They also had a live band that played lively dance music.
The club invited a dance instructor to the party and she made sure we were all out there dancing, even my Traveling Partner and I with our two left feet! Maria (the most common name for women in Brazil) had a lot of energy and didn’t take no for an answer. It was a lot of fun and a great party by people who enjoy singing, dancing, and music.
After the party, we packed up our gear. We were leaving the next morning for Belém in northern Brazil. I’ll take you there next week.
I’ll end with the five senses plus one.
See – the city from a high point, the interesting church and gallery, the market, and some homeless people on the street
Hear – loud music, people coughing, the sounds of a city, the sounds of the market
Smell – food cooking
Touch – a sculpture of the four men
Tasted – good local foods at lunch and dinner, excellent wine
Learned – more about the culture of Brazil and its people
Until next week, happy travels!
Tom
PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM