Why visit Tiradentes?

Tiradentes’ baroque style is not as exquisite as Ouro Preto and São João Del Rei, but it is undoubtedly the most charming of the historical cities of Minas Gerais. Located at the foot of the Serra de São José, the city was just a mining camp in the early 18th century. In 1718, it became Vila São José, in honor of the then Portuguese Prince D. José I.

With the proclamation of the Republic, the city was renamed Tiradentes, name of the martyr of the Inconfidência Mineira (an attempt at emancipation from Minas Gerais in 1789), born nearby and who died fighting against the monarchy.

When gold became scarce in the region, the city was forgotten and fell into dispair, it was rediscovered in late 1970. Exceptionally preserved thanks to the decades of long isolation, the Baroque architectural ensemble of Tiradentes gathers jewels like the charming fountain of the São José Fountain, built in 1749 to supply the city with drinking water and which runs until today.

Also standing out in the city is the majestic Church of San Antonio, second in amount of gold in Brasil, with its front built by the artist Antonio Francisco Lisboa, better known as Aleijadinho, and an organ brought from Portugal, in 1788.

Largo das Forras, the central city square, houses the City Hall and numerous handicraft shops, restaurants and inns. It was here, in 1888, that slaves gathered to celebrate the end of slavery.

In August, Tiradentes hosts one of the most exciting events of brazilian cuisine: the Tiradentes Culture and Gastronomy Festival. Created in 1998, the Festival brings together renowned chefs of Brazilian cuisine and other countries too. In 2015, more than 350 professionals attended the event and held 200 gastronomic activities, between classes, dinners and restaurants in the square.

At dusk, the light of the lanterns on the doors of restaurants, inns, antique shops and craft stores make the city even more charming, which has been the setting for movies, sitcoms and soap operas.