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The picturesque town of PIRENOPOLIS straddles the Rio das Almas, 112km north of Goiania in the scrubby mountains of the Serra dos Pireneus. Founded by bandeirantes in 1727 as a gold-mining settlement, it's now one of the prettiest and friendliest towns in Brazil, and a popular weekend retreat for residents of Brasilia. The main street, Avenida Sizenando Jayme , is a broad, peaceful, tree-lined avenue where the old men, with their ponies and carts, and visiting fazendeiros hang out chatting in the shade; on Sunday morning there's a market here. Just a couple of blocks down the hill is the oldest church in Goias, the Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosario de Meia Ponte (1728-32), an attractive colonial edifice built mainly of mud, clay and sand, with an impressive ceiling painted by the Brazilian artist, Inacio Pereira Leal. It's currently undergoing much-needed structural repairs, and renovation work on the more ornate paintings and baroque nave is set to continue for some time, though the workmen will be happy to let you in. Opposite the church, the ruined late nineteenth-century theatre is also being rebuilt, and should, when finished, be once more the venue for plays and other distractions. East of the church, along Rua Bonfim da Serra dos Pireneus, Igreja Nosso Senhor do Bonfim , built between 1750 and 1754, is famous for its image of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim originally brought here by two hundred slaves. Also in the upper part of town, at Rua Direita 39 between the Igreja N.S. do Rosario and the Rodoviaria, you'll find the small Museu das Cavalhadas (Fri-Sun 9am-5pm), located in a family's front room (knock if it appears closed). The museum contains displays of incredible carnival costumes from the Festo do Divino Espirito Santo, a lively and largely horse-mounted religious festival which takes place in the town exactly six weeks after Easter Sunday. The festival combines dances with mock battles from the Crusades, and the costumes include ornate metal armour, demonic masks and animal heads. Another tiny museum, the Museu da Familia Pompeu , in the family's home on the same road at no. 28 (Mon-Sat 9am-6pm), may in future become the museu municipal, with its odd collection of colonial and later bric-a-brac, including an old printing press, municipal newsletters and silver jewellery. Below the Igreja N.S. do Rosario, the town has a different atmosphere. Swimming and sunbathing spots line the river by the old stone and wood bridge, which links the main settlement with the Carmo section of town on the north bank, and there's a vibrant alternative scene reflected in a handful of interesting bars, organic cafes and New Age stores: Homeostratum at Rua do Rosario 12 sells homeopathic products, natural foods, alternative magazines and artesanato; and Nataraja has a wide range of hippy clothes, crystals and alternative medicines. However, Pirenopolis is most famous in Brazil for its silverwork , mostly inset with semiprecious stones. The craft was introduced just over twenty years ago by the hippies who came and stayed, and nowadays, with over two hundred artisans working in around a hundred workshops, you'll find jewellery for sale in dozens of shops, much of it inspired by Asian designs. On the north side of the river, housed in the eighteenth-century Igreja Nossa Senhora do Carmo, the Museu Sacro (Mon-Sat 9am-6pm) displays an image of the town's patroness, which was originally brought from Portugal. A couple of hours' easy walk from town heading out north past the church (about 6km and well signposted) is the Santuario Vagafogo (Tues-Sun 8am-5pm; $3.50), a very good sanctuary for cerrado wildlife species, which also serves special brunches at weekends and on holidays.
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