Santa Bárbara is a Brazilian

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

founded in 1704 and located in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

. It is a historic town on the Gold Circuit of

, located ninety-eight kilometres from

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

, in the centre of the

Estrada Real Estrada Real (, ''Royal Road'') was an epithet applied to the roads built and maintained by the Portuguese Crown both in Portugal itself and in the Portuguese overseas territories. Presently it is used to designate a set of colonial-era to ...

. The bucolic landscape, with its churches, roofs and backyards at the foot of the imposing Serra do Caraça makes Santa Bárbara one of the most beautiful towns in Minas Gerais. Despite the current increase in economic development, it is a peaceful and welcoming town with simple and hospitable people who preserve their traditions and live an active cultural life.

History

It was established as "Hamlet of St. Anthony of the Santa Bárbara River" on December 4, 1704, by the pioneer Antônio Pereira, of São Paulo, who found there alluvial gold and lodes of precious stones. An interesting fact is that this pioneer founded the hamlet of Brumal just before then, and until today the anniversary of the district is commemorated on the eve of the municipality. In 1713 they started construction of the church of St. Anthony. Consequently, the city turned into an important passage in the route between the Corte, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, and the central/northern mines of Minas Gerais. In 1817 it was visited by the expedition of naturalists

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer. Life Martius was born at Erlangen, the son of Prof Ernst Wilhelm Martius, court apothecary. He graduated PhD f ...

and

Johann Baptist von Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German natural history, biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. ...

in their passage through the jungle. It was elevated to town on March 15, 1839, and in 1858 to a county with the name "Santa Bárbara do Mato Dentro".

Economy

Currently its economy is based on

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mining. The city also produces

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

and

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

in large scale.

Culture and tourism

The city's tourist attractions include some constructions from the 18th century including the church Matriz de Santa Bárbara which was dedicated to St. Anthony and built in 1724. It was made in colonial baroque style, and was recently renovated highlighting the ship's ceiling painted by master

Manoel da Costa Ataíde Manoel da Costa Ataíde, better known as Mestre Ataíde (18 October 1762 — 2 February 1830), was a Brazilian painter, sculptor, gilder and teacher. An important artist of the baroque-rococo school in Minas Gerais, Ataíde had a major influe ...

. The municipality contains about 45% of the

Serra do Gandarela National Park Serra do Gandarela National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional da Serra do Gandarela) is a national park in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It protects a mountainous region holding a remnant of Atlantic Forest that is an important source of water for th ...

, created in 2014.

Education

The city was a pioneer in music education in public schools in Brazil, with the "Music in Schools" project.

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools.

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

are both taught as second languages.

Educational institutions

Numbers: *Public Schools: 22 *Private Schools: 4

Sports

As in the rest of Brazil,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

is the most popular sport among locals.

Climate

The warmest month is February with an average temperature of 20 °C and the coldest is July with 13.6 °C. The mean annual temperature is 17.4 °C.

Districts

Santa Bárbara has four districts: Florália, Barra Feliz, Brumal and Conceição do Rio Acima.
Besides these, the city also houses several subdistricts and rural communities: Sumidouro, Santana do Morro, Galego, Vigário da Vara, Cruz dos Peixotos, André do Mato Dentro, Barro Branco, Cachoeira de Florália, Mutuca and Costa Lacerda.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Barbara, Minas Gerais Municipalities in Minas Gerais Gold mining in Brazil Populated places established in 1704 1704 establishments in Brazil