Congonhas
| Congonhas | ||
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Coordinates: 20 ° 30 ′ S , 43 ° 51 ′ W Congonhas on the map of Minas Gerais
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| Basic data | ||
| Country | Brazil | |
| State | Minas Gerais | |
| City foundation | December 17, 1938 | |
| Residents | 48,723 (IBGE 2009) | |
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| Detailed data | ||
| surface | 305,579 | |
| Population density | 149.3 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Time zone | UTC −3 | |
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The small town of Congonhas is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais and is located in a wide valley 85 km south of Belo Horizonte . It owes its existence to gold discoveries on the Rio Maranhão . Today she lives mainly from mining and metal processing and from tourism. The place is 871 meters above sea level and has a population of 43,071 (2004). The municipality covers 306.4 km².
Since 1985 the pilgrimage church Bom Jesus de Matozinhos with the sculptures by Aleijadinho and the Stations of the Cross chapels has been part of the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage .
Pilgrimage church
The Santuário do Bom Jesus de Matozinhos was built in 1758 on the Maranhão hill above Congonhas. The ensemble includes a large flight of stairs and chapels with works of art by regional artists.
Aleijadinho created the twelve life-size statues of the prophets out of soapstone . You are standing in front of the church on the edge of a terrace from which you can look far into the country. With dramatic movement they hold scrolls in their hands telling six good and six bad messages. In addition to Aleijadinho's sculptures, the interior of the church also contains paintings by Manuel da Costa Ataíde , an equally famous Baroque painter.
Below the church there are six small chapels in a well-tended garden, with scenes from the Passion story carved in cedar wood: The Last Supper , Golgotha , The Incarceration , Flagellation and Coronation , The Way of the Cross and The Crucifixion . They too were created by Aleijadinho and his disciples. Their expression is caricatured: The torturers and tormentors of Jesus are short, they have crooked, long noses and stupid, simple faces.
Other historical buildings
- The Igreja do Rosário , built by slaves in the 17th century,
- the parish church Matriz de Nossa Senhora
- the São José church
economy
The iron ore mining company Ferrous Resources operates the Viga mine in Congonhas.