Belo Vale: Crafts, Trails and Rural Heritage

Crafts, protected historic sites and rural heritage give Belo Vale its distinctive character. Local highlights include a permanent exhibition and typical Minas Gerais cuisine, as well as historic trails and a large estate with natural and landscape heritage. You can shape your trip around art, history, scenery or food.

Crafts and Cuisine

Casarão das Artes sells crafts made by artisans from Belo Vale in the Casarão dos Araújo building. The building, also popularly known as Casarão dos Araújo, is also home to a permanent exhibition by visual artist Maria Campos, who is from Belo Vale. Crafts and visual art are thus housed under one roof, but offer different points of interest: locally made works on the one hand, and the work of an artist from the town on the other. Sales opening arrangements may change; check them before your visit.

Restaurants in Belo Vale serve typical Minas Gerais cuisine prepared on wood-burning stoves. Alongside cultural and historical attractions, this gives your trip a culinary connection to the state's cuisine.

Fazenda and Protected Sites

Fazenda Boa Esperança covers 318 hectares, including the main house, outbuildings, and its natural and landscape heritage. The estate thus combines built features with the natural and landscape values explicitly included in its protected area. Two dates are important to its protection history: the Fazenda has been under federal heritage protection since 1959 and, since 1975, has also been protected by the state heritage authorities of Minas Gerais. It can be reached from Belo Vale via an unpaved road with signposts; take this road condition into account when planning your trip.

In the rural area of Belo Vale, in the Serra dos Mascates, lies the archaeological complex of the Ruínas da Fazenda das Casas Velhas and the Calçada de Pedra. It is protected under Municipal Decree No. 155/2014 for its historical, archaeological and landscape value. The protected values thus include both the complex's historical and archaeological significance and its landscape value.

Historic Route Connections

The Calçada de Pedras connected Fazenda Boa Esperança with the Caminho Velho of the Estrada Real. The Caminho Belo Vale–Itabirito is a preserved section of the route that connected Belo Vale with Itabirito; it is located on the unpaved road to Fazenda Boa Esperança. Belo Vale offers the Caminho Belo Vale–Itabirito as a visitor attraction. As route conditions may change, check them before planning your trip.

The Estação Ferroviária de Belo Vale is also among the destination's protected historic sites. It is protected by the municipal government of Belo Vale, Minas Gerais, for its historical and architectural value. The railway station and historic route connections thus complement the rural heritage sites of Fazenda Boa Esperança and the ruins complex.

Minas Gerais in a Wider Context

Minas Gerais provides a broader regional context for travel. Across the state, 94 protected areas safeguard almost two million hectares in the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado and Caatinga biomes; tourism is established in 17 nature parks. The craft of bell ringers and the artisanal production of Minas cheese are also recognized as Brazilian cultural heritage in Minas Gerais. These statewide attractions complement Belo Vale's specific sights, cuisine and crafts.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Bicas, Pedro Leopoldo, Porto Firme, Passos, Formiga, São Domingos do Prata, Manga, Manhuaçu

For the broader travel overview: Minas Gerais.