Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora do Rosário

Pirenópolis, Brazil

Praça Manuel Jaime Lopes (Praça da Matriz). The oldest Catholic church in the state. It was built by African slaves in 1728 with funds gained through gold mining. In September 2002, it was partially destroyed by a fire. It has since been restored but the altar was lost. Another church, the Matriz dos Pretos, had fallen into ruins and nothing remained but the altar, so the church-less altar was united with the altar-less church here in 2005.