Passos is located in the Circuito TurĂstico Nascentes das Gerais e Canastra. Here, religious building history, a former railway station with a later cultural use, art and connections to the landscape sit side by side. When planning your trip, you can choose different areas of focus: historic buildings, religious traditions or nature. Specific places and dates help distinguish these themes from one another.
Chapel, bell and building history
The Capela Nossa Senhora da Penha was built between 1863 and 1864 and was inaugurated and consecrated on 7 September 1867. Its bronze bell has a history of its own: it is decorated with reliefs from the Fundição de Lisboa and was commissioned in Portugal by the Barão de Passos in 1878. The construction period, consecration and bell commission mark distinct milestones. The Palácio da Cultura provides an earlier date: it was inaugurated on 16 July 1853.
Another architectural detail is the Fonte Luminosa in Praça Geraldo da Silva Maia. It was built in 1951 and has Art Deco features. Together with the chapel and the Palácio, the fountain broadens the view of local building history to include a structure from the mid-20th century.
Buildings with changing functions
The former railway station reopened as the Estação Cultura in 1997. The Estação Cultura is located on Avenida Estação in the Coimbras neighbourhood. Its name brings together its former function as a railway station and its later cultural use; 1997 marks its reopening as the Estação Cultura.
Another building also connects different eras: today, it houses the Escola Municipal ProfÂŞ Francina de Andrade. From 1865 to 1904, it served as the first headquarters of the Santa Casa de MisericĂłrdia de Passos. Its former institutional use and its present-day role as a school give this place a different historical connection from the former railway station.
Art and religious traditions
The Acervo ArtĂstico Wagner de Castro comprises 67 paintings, permanently exhibited at the Casa da Cultura. The Casa da Cultura is located in Praça do Rosário in Passos. The collection, its size and its location form a clearly defined focus on art alongside the buildings and their history.
The Festa do Reinado e da Cavalhada de Passos is an annual religious celebration that originated around 1835; the Cavalhada is associated with the festivities. This living tradition adds another dimension to the buildings’ historical dates. The Santuário Santo AnĂbal is also among Passos’s religious and cultural attractions. The celebration, sanctuary and art collection represent different cultural themes and need not be combined into a single itinerary.
Nature and landscape in the regional context
The land on which Parque Municipal Dr. EmĂlio Piantino stands was donated to the municipality so that local nature and views of the city could be preserved. Different bodies of water also feature in the tourist profile of Passos: a 2019 classification lists the Rio Grande among the river attractions and the Represa do Peixoto among the lake attractions. Cachoeira Mata-Cachorro is listed as a waterfall attraction in the rural area of Passos. The city views, river, lake and waterfall thus represent distinct connections to the landscape.
Across the wider destination of Minas Gerais, 94 protected areas safeguard almost 2 million hectares across the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado and Caatinga biomes. Tourism is established in 17 nature parks in Minas Gerais. The craft of bell ringers and the artisanal production of Minas cheese are also recognised as Brazilian cultural heritage. These nature and culture themes belong to the wider context of the state; Passos itself is located in the Circuito TurĂstico Nascentes das Gerais e Canastra.
Discover more destinations: Luciano, Resplendor, Pedro Leopoldo, Carmo de Minas, Lagoa Formosa, Boa Esperança, Fronteira, Brumadinho.
Go to the overview of the wider destination: Minas Gerais.
