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Roots Earth in Ouro Preto: audio stories about 40 places

Roots Earth has audio stories about 40 places in Ouro Preto, Brazil, in Latin America. The Ouro Preto stories are in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The app needs no account: open Ouro Preto, pick a place on the city's map of places and play. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people.

The 40 places are listed below in the order the app shows them, and again further down with their coordinates. The lists were taken from the Roots Earth catalogue on 15 September 2026.

Published 16 September 2026. Markdown: ouro-preto.md

The 40 places in Ouro Preto with audio stories

In the order the app shows them.

  1. Church of Saint Francis of Assisi
  2. Tiradentes Square
  3. Museum of the Inconfidência
  4. Church of Our Lady of the Pillar
  5. Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
  6. Church of Our Lady of the Conception
  7. Aleijadinho Museum
  8. House of Tallies
  9. Church of Our Lady of the Rosary
  10. Church of Our Lady of Mercy
  11. Father Faria Chapel
  12. Church of Saint Joseph
  13. Oratory Museum
  14. School of Mines
  15. Museum of Science and Technology
  16. Municipal Theatre
  17. Governors' Palace
  18. Chico Rei Mine
  19. Passagem Gold Mine
  20. Church of Saint Ephigenia
  21. Tiradentes Monument
  22. Church of Saint Francis of Paola
  23. Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos
  24. Contos Fountain
  25. Museum of Sacred Art (Pilar)
  26. Itacolomi Peak
  27. Rua Direita
  28. Largo do Rosário
  29. Municipal Market
  30. Soapstone Craft Fair
  31. Antônio Dias Quarter
  32. São Cristóvão Quarter
  33. Morro do Cruzeiro Campus
  34. Student Republics District
  35. Piedade Cemetery
  36. Morro da Queimada Archaeological Park
  37. Horto dos Contos Park
  38. Bauxita Neighbourhood
  39. Andorinhas Waterfall
  40. São Bartolomeu Village

Is there an audio guide for Church of Saint Francis of Assisi?

Yes. Church of Saint Francis of Assisi has its audio stories in the Roots Earth app: a short introduction and a deeper story, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian.

It is place 1 of the 40 Ouro Preto places in the app, at -20.38664, -43.50293. Every one of the other 39 places in the list above has the same two stories.

Roots Earth is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself.

How to use Roots Earth in Ouro Preto

Open Roots Earth and choose Ouro Preto. The city has its own map of places with all 40 of them on it. Tap the place you are standing in front of, or any other, and play its short introduction or its deeper story. You decide what to listen to and in which order.

You can listen in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian, and there is no account. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection.

In full

All 40 places in Ouro Preto, in the app's order, with their coordinates.

All 40 places in Ouro Preto, with coordinates

Every place below has a short introduction and a deeper story in the Roots Earth app, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude) and the one line descriptions are the app's own catalogue values of 15 September 2026; a place without a line here has none that this page can print.

1. Church of Saint Francis of Assisi

Coordinates
-20.38664, -43.50293
In one line
A masterpiece of Brazilian Rococo begun in 1765, this church pairs Aleijadinho's carved soapstone portal and twin round towers with a luminous painted ceiling by Manuel da Costa Ataide, widely called the finest colonial church in Brazil.

2. Tiradentes Square

Coordinates
-20.38556, -43.50361
In one line
The civic heart of old Vila Rica, this sloping hilltop square is ringed by colonial palaces and museums. At its center stands a monument to Tiradentes, martyr of the failed 1789 independence conspiracy who gave the plaza its name.

3. Museum of the Inconfidência

Coordinates
-20.38583, -43.50333
In one line
Set in the former town hall and jail on Tiradentes Square, this museum tells the story of the failed 1789 independence conspiracy. Founded in 1938, it guards relics of the rebels, colonial art, and a pantheon to the movement's martyrs.

4. Church of Our Lady of the Pillar

Coordinates
-20.38389, -43.50611
In one line
One of Brazil's most opulent Baroque interiors, this mother church glows with gilded carving across walls and ceiling. Built around a 1696 chapel and reshaped from 1731, it now holds a rich museum of sacred art and ranks as a minor basilica.

5. Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Coordinates
-20.38528, -43.5025
In one line
A refined transitional church near Tiradentes Square, designed by Manuel Francisco Lisboa with a soapstone portal traditionally credited to his son Aleijadinho. Built from 1756 by a wealthy lay brotherhood, it blends late Baroque and Rococo beneath twin towers.

6. Church of Our Lady of the Conception

Coordinates
-20.38472, -43.49778
In one line
An early-Baroque parish church in the Antonio Dias district, built across the early 18th century to designs by Manuel Francisco Lisboa. Heavy, gilded and solemn, it holds the tomb of his son Aleijadinho, the greatest sculptor of colonial Brazil.

7. Aleijadinho Museum

Coordinates
-20.38444, -43.49806
In one line
Established in 1968 around the Conception church, this museum honors Antonio Francisco Lisboa, called Aleijadinho, the greatest sculptor-architect of colonial Brazil. It gathers his soapstone works, sacred art, and the memory of the man buried nearby.

8. House of Tallies

Coordinates
-20.38694, -43.50528
In one line
A grand colonial mansion built between 1782 and 1784 for tax contractor João Rodrigues de Macedo, later the treasury house of Minas Gerais. Its cellars, ceiling paintings, and money museum trace the gold trade.

9. Church of Our Lady of the Rosary

Coordinates
-20.38694, -43.50083
In one line
Its bold rounded facade is among the most original in Minas Gerais.

10. Church of Our Lady of Mercy

Coordinates
-20.3875, -43.50194
In one line
A hillside Baroque church built between 1740 and 1772 by a lay brotherhood. Aleijadinho was paid for the design of its main chapel. Inside are four side altars, two carved wooden pulpits, and a choir.

11. Father Faria Chapel

Coordinates
-20.38389, -43.49333
In one line
One of Ouro Preto's oldest sanctuaries, founded in the early 1700s by the pioneer priest João de Faria Fialho. Its plain exterior hides a richly gilded Baroque interior, and a rare stone pontifical cross stands in the churchyard.

12. Church of Saint Joseph

Coordinates
-20.38667, -43.50472
In one line
A Baroque church built by a brotherhood of artists and artisans, begun around 1753 and finished with its present frontispiece in 1828. Aleijadinho designed its main altar and tower, making this the church of the very craftsmen who built colonial Ouro Preto.

13. Oratory Museum

Coordinates
-20.385, -43.5025
In one line
A museum opened in 1998 beside the Carmo church, holding 162 portable home altars and 300 sacred images from the 17th to 20th centuries. Its 18th-century building is linked by tradition to the sculptor Aleijadinho.

14. School of Mines

Coordinates
-20.38556, -43.50306
In one line
Founded in 1876 at the request of Emperor Pedro II and housed in the former Governors' Palace, this school trained Brazil's first mining engineers. It holds a renowned mineralogy collection in its Museum of Science and Technology.

15. Museum of Science and Technology

Coordinates
-20.38556, -43.50306
In one line
Housed in the 18th-century former Governors' Palace, this university museum holds one of the world's great mineral collections, with more than 30,000 specimens alongside meteorites, diamonds and the scientific instruments of Brazil's first mining engineers.

16. Municipal Theatre

Coordinates
-20.38528, -43.50194
In one line
Built in 1769 and opened in 1770, this gold-rush opera house is widely regarded as the oldest functioning theatre in the Americas. Its intimate horseshoe auditorium of carved wooden boxes still hosts performances beneath the colonial heart of Ouro Preto.

17. Governors' Palace

Coordinates
-20.38556, -43.50306
In one line
Designed by military engineer José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim and built between 1741 and 1748, this long stone palace governed the gold-rich captaincy of Minas Gerais. Part fortress, part residence, it dominates Tiradentes Square and now houses the School of Mines.

18. Chico Rei Mine

Coordinates
-20.38528, -43.49889
In one line
This 18th-century gold mine carries the legend of Chico Rei, an enslaved African king said to have bought his freedom and this mine, then freed others. Visitors descend its low, hand-dug tunnels to walk through Afro-Brazilian history underground.

19. Passagem Gold Mine

Coordinates
-20.38028, -43.46361
In one line
Founded by the Portuguese in 1719, this vast working between Ouro Preto and Mariana is billed as the largest gold mine open to the public. Visitors descend by antique mine cart some 120 meters underground to a flooded gallery and an underground lake.

20. Church of Saint Ephigenia

Coordinates
-20.38389, -43.49389
In one line
Linked to the legend of Chico Rei, it was funded with gold the enslaved are said to have hidden in their hair.

21. Tiradentes Monument

Coordinates
-20.38556, -43.50361
In one line
Inaugurated in 1894, this bronze statue by Italian sculptor Virgílio Cestari honors Tiradentes, martyr of the 1789 independence conspiracy. It stands on the square where his severed head was displayed in 1792, deliberately turned away from the former Governors' Palace.

22. Church of Saint Francis of Paola

Coordinates
-20.38222, -43.5
In one line
Crowning a hilltop above Ouro Preto, this was the last church begun in colonial Brazil. Started in 1804 as the gold ran dry, it kept the older Baroque style yet took nearly a century to finish.

23. Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos

Coordinates
-20.38028, -43.5025
In one line
Built between 1771 and 1793, this Ouro Preto church honors three devotions at once. Its soapstone doorway is attributed to Aleijadinho, and paintings by Ataíde light the interior, a modest gem among the town's grander temples.

24. Contos Fountain

Coordinates
-20.38722, -43.50528
In one line
A public fountain carved from local Itacolomi sandstone in 1745, commissioned by the town senate to bring water to the people. Its Latin inscription thanks the senate for quenching thirst, near the grand Casa dos Contos.

25. Museum of Sacred Art (Pilar)

Coordinates
-20.38389, -43.50611
In one line
Hidden in a crypt beneath the gilded Pilar church, this museum holds 400 works of sacred and secular art from the 17th to 19th centuries. The vaulted space, once thought to be an old gold mine, reopened in 2000.

26. Itacolomi Peak

Coordinates
-20.42778, -43.49889
In one line
Known as the beacon of the bandeirantes, it led explorers to these valleys in 1698 and now anchors a protected state park.

27. Rua Direita

Coordinates
-20.38556, -43.50306
In one line
Ouro Preto's main historic street, officially named for the Conde de Bobadela, winds past colonial mansions, soapstone-carvers' studios, and cafes. Cobbled and lively from morning to night, it remains the commercial heart of the old gold town.

28. Largo do Rosário

Coordinates
-20.38694, -43.50111
In one line
A neighborhood square wrapped around the curved church of Our Lady of the Rosary, built by Ouro Preto's brotherhood of Black men. Its rounded twin-tower facade and lived-in plaza form one of the town's most distinctive Afro-Brazilian places.

29. Municipal Market

Coordinates
-20.38472, -43.505
In one line
The Municipal Market gathers Ouro Preto's everyday trade beneath a sheltered hall, where vendors sell cheese, cachaça, fresh produce, sweets, and crafts. A working market rather than a monument, it keeps the colonial town fed and busy.

30. Soapstone Craft Fair

Coordinates
-20.38528, -43.50361
In one line
The Soapstone Craft Fair sets out rows of carved pots, bowls, and figures in front of the São Francisco de Assis church. Artisans shape the same soft local stone that Aleijadinho used, selling handmade work daily to passing visitors.

31. Antônio Dias Quarter

Coordinates
-20.38444, -43.49778
In one line
The Antônio Dias Quarter is one of the two original mining settlements that fused into Ouro Preto. Named for the prospector who struck gold here in 1698, it holds the Conception church where Aleijadinho lies buried and centuries of layered history.

32. São Cristóvão Quarter

Coordinates
-20.38194, -43.50139
In one line
The São Cristóvão Quarter is an Afro-Brazilian neighborhood of Ouro Preto, a hillside community rooted in the lives of enslaved and freed Black miners. It remains a living center of congado, the Rosary brotherhoods, and Afro-diasporic memory.

33. Morro do Cruzeiro Campus

Coordinates
-20.39528, -43.52389
In one line
The Morro do Cruzeiro campus is the main hub of the Federal University of Ouro Preto, spread across a hill above the historic center.

34. Student Republics District

Coordinates
-20.38861, -43.51
In one line
The Student Republics District is where university students live in shared houses called repúblicas, a tradition unique to Ouro Preto. New members earn their place through a trial, and painted facades, nicknames, and lively customs fill the colonial streets.

35. Piedade Cemetery

Coordinates
-20.38, -43.50556
In one line
The Piedade Cemetery rests on an old hill at the northwest edge of Ouro Preto, near the Antônio Dias quarter. Documented from the early 19th century, it shifted burial from inside the churches to open ground, gathering generations of the town's dead.

36. Morro da Queimada Archaeological Park

Coordinates
-20.375, -43.5
In one line
On the Serra de Ouro Preto, this archaeological park preserves the burned ruins of an early 18th-century mining settlement destroyed after the 1720 revolt of Felipe dos Santos. Stone foundations, dams, and water channels survive across the hillside.

37. Horto dos Contos Park

Coordinates
-20.38833, -43.50667
In one line
Created by royal order in 1799 as the Botanical Garden of Vila Rica, the second in Brazil, this green park sits in the historic center. Today its trails wind through some 360,000 square meters with more than 80 plant species.

38. Bauxita Neighbourhood

Coordinates
-20.39722, -43.52222
In one line
Named for the red aluminium-bearing rock found here, Bauxita emerged around 1922 as a mining and industrial district. Today it is the youthful, modern face of Ouro Preto, home to the federal university's Morro do Cruzeiro campus and its student houses.

39. Andorinhas Waterfall

Coordinates
-20.34611, -43.49861
In one line
On the northern slope of the Serra de Ouro Preto, this roughly 10-meter waterfall is regarded as the source of the Rio das Velhas, the largest tributary of the Rio São Francisco. Collared swallows nest in its cave-like rock walls.

40. São Bartolomeu Village

Coordinates
-20.40639, -43.43222
In one line
Founded by bandeirantes in the late 17th century along the Rio das Velhas, this colonial village is one of the oldest in Minas Gerais. A parish by 1724, it is famed today for its Baroque churches and its prized artisanal guava paste.

Roots Earth in short

Roots Earth has audio stories about 5,665 places in 130 cities, 25 countries and 6 regions, written by local people.

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  • Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection
  • Audio stories in English and German in every city, and in Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian in 126 of the 130 cities

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