NOVEMBER´S FEATURED DOOR OF THE MONTH – PARACATU – BRAZIL

November 5, 2018 SouthAmerica

Paracatu is located in the south central part of Brazil, in the western side of Minas Gerais state, and is a several hours drive south from the capital city of Brasilia. The small town services the nearby open-pit gold mine that is now called Morro do Ouro and operated by Kinross. Gold was discovered in the early eighteenth century, and the town’s official foundation was in 1798. Paracatu’s historic center lies slightly down-slope of the modern spread going over the ridge. Nicely preserved old churches, old brick and stone walls, mostly single-floored buildings, narrow streets, and a few blocks where the store and building fronts are cleanly painted stand out from the surrounding more mundane modern structures. This historic section of Paracatu has dozens of brightly painted historic doors- the door picture we present here is one of several featured in our book “Doors of South America.”

southamericatotheworld.com — Paracatu, Brazil

The historic doors of Paracatu are mainly colored white and bright blue. What sets them apart from other doors in South America is rather a different glass-pane lattice-works covering the upper third of the entrance-way. The hot subtropical climate does not suggest one would have such guarding features to keep the warmth inside the homes. Perhaps this evolution in door morphology comes as a defense against insects? Tropical trees, mainly palms, are scattered throughout the town and the weather is humid, thus insects are certainly present. We still do not have a good explanation for this window-pane feature fronting the upper portion of the doors.

Paracatu is overall a clean appearing town, but one that gives the feeling that nighttime may be unsafe. Many of the commercial streets are of a rougher aspect. If you wish to see these doors someday the best street with older buildings is along Rio do Avila. Brazil in general has historic doors that are distinct from the rest of South American doors. Similar colorful doors can be found in Ouro Preto and Recife, but generally without the odd window-panes.