Black gold
'Ouro Preto' meaning 'black gold', takes its name from the original colour of the metal when gold was found in the river Tripui. It was founded in 1711. The city came to have 110,000 inhabitants in the eighteenth century while Rio only had 20,000. There is now less than half of the original population, and just as well because the city has remained generally in good condition despite its difficult terrain but the weather does not help, because it is at 1,000 meters above sea level and its climate is very cold and rainy in winter. Luckily it did not rain during my stay, and I could walk around its steep streets and see a few Baroque churches named Unesco World Heritage Sites in 1981, mainly because of the enormous wealth of baroque churches, which add many chapels and oratories.
