Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Pilar (Ouro Preto)

This is one of the most opulent baroque churches in Brazil, its interior sheathed in an extraordinary quantity of gold and painted wood. Built in the first half of the eighteenth century, the octagonal nave and elaborate main altar shimmer with gilded carving by leading craftsmen of the mining region. A small museum of sacred art occupies the crypt below. Dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar, it stands in a lower quarter of Ouro Preto and rivals the town's finest churches for decorative richness.