Goiás Velho (Old Goiás)

Goiás City, more commonly known as Old Goiás, is the former capital of the state. Founded in 1727, its name is a tribute to the Goyaz Indians, its former inhabitants. Its houses, chapels and churches are testimony to the height of the gold rush era. The history of Old Goiás, which is intertwined with the history of Goiás state, and certain reminders of the wealth of past centuries carved in gold, can be seen in places such as the Museu das Bandeiras, built in 1761; the Colégio Sant'Ana, founded in 1879 by Dominican friars; the church of Nossa Senhora d'Abadia, constructed by slaves in 1790, with its altar painted in blue and gold; and the Casa da Fundição, dating from 1752, where the gold from the mines was cast.

Surrounded by the Serra Dourada, Goiás Velho is the native city of the poet Ana Lins dos Guimarães Peixoto Bretas (1889-1985), better known as Cora Coralina. Although she started writing at 14 years of age, she published her first book when she was 75. In order to survive, she made and sold crystallized sweets. The house where she lived, one of the oldest in the city, dating from 1782, has become a museum, containing her furniture, personal possessions, documents and letters from illustrious correspondents such as the poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902-1987) and the Bahian writer Jorge Amado, one of the main representatives of the literature of the North East region and one of the most widely read Brazilian authors both inside and outside the country.