Caraça College 
Caraça College
26km/16mi south of Santa Bárbara, on a plateau at the foot of the Serra do Caraça, is Caraça College. Its history began with the foundation of the church of Nossa Senhora dos Homens, built between 1770 and 1774 by a Franciscan named Lourenáo. In 1818 it was made over to the Lazarists, and the college was founded two years later - one of the first in Brazil to provide a complete grammar school education.
26km/16mi south of Santa Bárbara, on a plateau at the foot of the Serra do Caraça, is Caraça College. Its history began with the foundation of the church of Nossa Senhora dos Homens, built between 1770 and 1774 by a Franciscan named Lourenáo. In 1818 it was made over to the Lazarists, and the college was founded two years later - one of the first in Brazil to provide a complete grammar school education.
|
Must-see attractions nearby:
|
Related Attractions
Last Supper
"Last Supper"
Among the treasures of the College are books of the 15th-17th centuries, porcelain, liturgical vessels, vestments and works of art, including two paintings by Manuel da Costa Ataíde, a portrait of Friar Lourenço and his famous "Last Supper" (1818).
Among the treasures of the College are books of the 15th-17th centuries, porcelain, liturgical vessels, vestments and works of art, including two paintings by Manuel da Costa Ataíde, a portrait of Friar Lourenço and his famous "Last Supper" (1818).
Church
Church
The heyday of the college, the oldest-established school for the children of the large landowners of Minas Gerais, lasted from 1854 until 1968, when one of the wings was burned down and the college was closed. The college, now protected as a national monument, consisted of two wings and the church (1880), the first neo-Gothic church in Brazil, with twelve granite columns, twelve side altars of Minas marble and French stained glass windows. Under the buildings are catacombs containing the tombs of the monks. Now, after extensive restoration work, the stone and mortar of the original masonry is combined with modern materials such as reinforced concrete and aluminum, and the old buildings are reflected in the glass of the new parts.
The heyday of the college, the oldest-established school for the children of the large landowners of Minas Gerais, lasted from 1854 until 1968, when one of the wings was burned down and the college was closed. The college, now protected as a national monument, consisted of two wings and the church (1880), the first neo-Gothic church in Brazil, with twelve granite columns, twelve side altars of Minas marble and French stained glass windows. Under the buildings are catacombs containing the tombs of the monks. Now, after extensive restoration work, the stone and mortar of the original masonry is combined with modern materials such as reinforced concrete and aluminum, and the old buildings are reflected in the glass of the new parts.
