Ouro Preto means black gold, after the dark, iron-stained nuggets that set off the rush here at the end of the seventeenth century. For a while this town, then called Vila Rica, was among the richest and most populous places in the Americas, and its money went into churches, bridges, fountains and the steep, tilted streets you will be climbing and descending. UNESCO listed it in 1980, among the very first Brazilian sites, and walking in the centre you can see why: hardly a modern building disturbs the skyline of terracotta roofs and whitewashed towers climbing the hillsides.
The famous name here is Aleijadinho, the sculptor and architect Antônio Francisco Lisboa, who is said to have worked on after a disease deformed his hands, strapping tools to his wrists. His church of São Francisco de Assis is the one to see, and his carved soapstone saints run through the whole district. Soapstone is also what you will see sold in every other shop, in the form of cups, pots and little figures. The town's political history is just as rich. In 1789 a circle of local intellectuals and officials, the Inconfidência Mineira, plotted a revolt against Portuguese taxation, and one of them, the dentist known as Tiradentes, was hanged for it in Rio. Brazil celebrates him as a national hero every April.
On a motorcycle, Ouro Preto is a place to treat with a bit of humility. The streets are paved with irregular stones, often steep, polished by centuries of wheels, and wet in the rainy season, so a loaded touring bike can be a handful. Many riders park at the edge and explore on foot or take a short taxi, which is not a bad idea. Altitude is a little over a thousand metres, which keeps evenings cool, even a bit chilly in winter.
Fuel and food are no trouble in a town of sixty-odd thousand, and the university and its students give it a lively evening life that most heritage towns lack. Try the Minas cooking in a family restaurant, with beans, pork and greens, and finish with a goiabada and white cheese pudding. Mariana is nine kilometres away, so the two towns are easily done together, but give Ouro Preto the longer stay if you can, ideally with a night under a tiled roof.