Itajubá: Horto Florestal and City History

Itajubá offers different ways to plan your stay: at Horto Florestal Anhumas, visiting hours and recreational facilities take center stage; churches, historic buildings, and the city museum introduce different chapters of local history. When planning, you can weigh recreational activities against a cultural and historical focus.

Recreation at Horto Florestal Anhumas

Horto Florestal Anhumas is open to visitors Tuesday through Sunday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can arrange group visits by calling (35) 9-9888-6206. Facilities include a multipurpose sports court, an outdoor fitness area, slides, and changing rooms for men and women. The sports court and fitness area focus on exercise; the slides add another recreational option. This makes the Horto a recreational destination, distinct from the city's historic buildings.

Churches and historic buildings

The current Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Soledade was inaugurated in 1934. It was preceded by four earlier churches, built in 1819, 1832, 1873, and 1912. This sequence places the current church within more than a century of local building history. The interior also has its own historical connection: Dutch artist Henk Asperslagh painted it in 1957, and it has been preserved ever since.

Casa Rosada combines a biographical story with original building features. Built in the early 20th century, it was the residence of Wenceslau Braz Pereira Gomes, president of Brazil from 1914 to 1918. The building is protected by IEPHA; its doors and windows, as well as some of its furnishings, are original.

Prédio Central da UNIFEI offers a different historical perspective. Coronel Antônio José Rennó built it as a manor house. In 1894, the building became a rectory; in 1912, it was sold to Dr. Theodomiro Carneiro Santiago to house the Instituto Eletrotécnico e Mecânico de Itajubá (IEMI). Unlike Casa Rosada, the building's history is shaped by successive uses and its intended institutional purpose. The distinction is clear when choosing a theme: the church is notable for its building sequence and preserved interior paintings, while the story of Prédio Central centers on its successive uses.

Museum and Mercado Municipal

The Museu Municipal Wenceslau Braz is located in central Itajubá, in the Estação Ferroviária, built in 1930 and now home to the museum. Its collection includes possessions belonging to relatives of notable figures from Itajubá society in earlier times. The combination of a railway station building and a collection gives the museum a different historical focus from the churches and former residences.

The current Mercado Municipal building was constructed in 1954 at the initiative of the mayor at the time, physician Dr. Vicente Vilela Viana. It was built after the 1930 railway station and the 1934 inauguration of the current Igreja Matriz. Public and religious buildings from different decades thus stand side by side in Itajubá.

Discover more destinations: Cachoeira Dourada, Lima Duarte, Barra Alegre, Itanhandu, Lapinha, Conceição Do Mato Dentro, Alagoa, Guaxupé.

For the broader travel overview: Minas Gerais.