Mariana: charming architecture in the middle of Brazil

Hello archi lovers!

We are once again touring Brazil and those other inland areas that surprise us and that many like. In the same region of Minas Gerais, where we discovered an old gold mine, we visited the nice town of Mariana.

Very close to another similar city that we already saw, Ouro Preto, and as here there is also charming colonial architecture, the title of the post could be the same.

The streets are already familiar to us, the same lovely facades with their small balconies, like an Iberian village but on another continent, simple but wonderful European-style churches that catch our attention, and a calm and pleasant atmosphere to explore the town.

And again as in the other mentioned town, Ouro Preto, facades are appealing with different sizes and colors but all of them keep the same style that comes from the other old continent. So also architecture and its influences travels far away creating other marvelous places but with the touch of the local roots that makes then all different, unique and special. And that is what we like to see, right?

We arrive at a large square where people relax and enjoy the calm, the leafy trees, all those facades of charming colors around, a nice fountain and also other urban architectural elements that we do not always see, such as those pagodas to take shelter from the rain or simply to meet people in a wonderful space.

And as we continued walking we discovered more, older facades with two water spouts embedded in the wall, and more typical facades that we love combining colors and those elements that make the place an everyday space but very pleasant and cool.

Of course, here in Mariana there are also churches, more than one, but a main one that proudly displays its baroque façade with Portuguese colonial airs, also simple and imposing at the same time.

There are other small bell towers nearby, and more streets lined with the same facades up and down the hill. A lot of white combined with other bright colours, for example some more important buildings looked beautiful in white with touches of intense blue like the sky with clouds.

As we continue our tour, we discover other elements, another basilica or church in the distance on the mountain, or some curious and witty poster congratulating a certain Pablo who became world champion of jiu-jitsu. What news!

Further away, in a closed park protected by tall palm trees, we see another peculiar building, larger and more distinguished. We don't know what it is, but we like it, the simple façade, but decorated at the front and the whole park around it. And from there we admire everything as a whole under a blanket of now black clouds, an architectural ensemble from another time that maintains its coherence with history, with the beauty of its different buildings, with the joy of its people and with the natural tranquility of the environment.