Goiás Velho by night

Goiás Velho by night

Goiás Velho by night

The twilight makes the buildings at Goiás Velho even more beautiful.

Goiás Velho by night

At this time, people go out for dinner and to take their beers or caipirinhas in one of the many bars.

Goiás Velho by night

How to get there: the best option is to rent a car either in Brasilia, either in Goiânia. It is quite easy renting cars on Brazillian airports, and most of the companies provide online reservations. From Goiânia it is 2 and a half hours drive, from Brasilia it is 4 or 4 and a half hours drive. 

Goiás Velho by night

Brasilia airport is best connected to both domestic and international flights, but driving from Goiânia to Goiás Velho should be less tiresome. 

From Brasilia, one can either go through the Pirenópolis path or through Goiânia. This last option should take more time, but roads are better and two-laned in almost both ways. 

If you stay on the main roads, you´ll go southwest to Goiânia and them north to Goiás Velho. Googlemaps may show a shortcut through small cities, which will avoid getting to Goiânia, but be aware roads can be bad at those cities, with holes and critical places, leading to considerable speed reducing. Eventually, it can be better to pass though Goiânia and then go up to Goiás Velho.

The first option, going through Pirenópolis - another historic city (see previous post, see lateral bar) - may be better if you have more time and wants to know both cities. But the road is small, and getting behind trucks will reduce your speed; besides, one should drive with more caution. 

Goiás Velho by night

If you go from Goiânia, the road is almost double-laned each way, and the asfalt is quite new in almost of the road. 

There are regular buses linking Goiânia to Goiás Velho, which can be taken at Goiânia bus depot (rodoviária de Goiânia). The distance is estimated to be done in 3 hours. 

Goiás Velho by night

The Cora Coralina Museum at Goiás Velho - Goias Oldtown

The Cora Coralina Museum at Goiás Velho - Goias Oldtown

Cora Coralina´s Museum

The most interesting cultural atraction at Goiás Velho is the Cora Coralina Museum.

She was one of the first women in Brazil to write poetry, and due to prejudice she started publishing with this pseudonym, in some newspapers.

Cora Coralina´s Museum

Born in Goiás Velho, she moved from the city with her family, and since then she lived in many cities at the São Paulo State. After many years, she got back to Goiás Velho, where her family had this beautiful house by one of the Rio Vermelho´s (Red river) bridge.

The bridge over the Vermelho River, and Cora Coralina´s Museum to the right

There she kept her gardens, wrote a lot of poems, and cooked local candies.  

Goiás Velho

Her reconaissance come in her late years, when she started to publish more.

Her bravery against the prejudice and facing life as well, for sure can put her as one of the first brazillian feminists, in a time this term even didn´t exist, or at least was unspoken in Brazil. 

After her death, her house was transformed into a museum dedicated to her. In the basement, a water source is a curious attraction. 

The museum was once afected by a flood, but it is now completely restored. 

The museum guide claims she was a good cooker too, and she didn´t liked to be interrupted while cooking, as she considered this a serious job. 

Even for those who don´t speak portuguese, the museum shows her clothes, her kitchen, her bedroom, and also a room with her prizes, all of them mixed with her most famous phrases. So it offers an opportunity of time travel, since one can see how life was in the early 20th century in this corner of Brazil. 

Goiás Velho

Entrance to the museum is 8 reais (about 2,5 dollars), and visited are always with a guide. It is not allowed to take pictures from inside. They sell her books only in portuguese, and I don´t think they have them translated to other languages. But many souvenirs can also be bought there as a remembrance of this lovely place.  

Goiás Velho

Goiás Velho - Goias Oldtown

Goiás Velho - Goias Oldtown

Goiás Velho - GO - Brasil

In the Brazillian Highlands, four hours drive away from Brasilia, or two and half hours drive away from Goiânia, the capital of the Goiás State, there´s this charming historic city called Goiás Velho.

It means the Old Goiás, because it was the state´s capital during the colonial period, untill the construction of Goiânia. 

Goiás Velho - GO - Brasil

Goiás Velho - GO - Brasil

The first settlers came in search for gold, and Goiás provided enough to be a capital city. Back them, the province, then State, was formed by what is today not only the State of Goiás, but also the Federal District and the Tocantis State. A really big piece of land in the heart of South America. 

Goiás Velho - GO - Brasil

As the gold rush ended, politicians decided to build the capital at Goiânia, in 1933, to a southern region of Goiás State. 

Goiás Velho wasn´t favored by history in terms of economic development or population bourgeoning, so it remained in a far way place from the big cities. But I think this made an advantage for keeping the place very authentic and historically protected. 

Goiás Velho - GO - Brasil

As it is far away from big cities, and also there is no big airport nearby, it remained protected from massive tourism or major economic booms, so the historical buildings are very well preserved. 

Goiás Velho - GO - Brasil

The mountais surroundig the city make it like a portrait. Humidity is high compared to the surrounding cerrado areas (the brazillian savannah), because there are many rivers near the city. 

Goiás Velho - GO - Brasil

Goiás Velho - GO - Brasil

And during the holly week, Goias hosts a major festival with a famous procession, called the procissão do fogaréu. I hope furthermore to write about it.