Congonhas is a Brazilian municipality in the interior of the state of Minas Gerais, in the Southeast Region of the country. It is located in the central part of the state and covers an area of about , of which is urban area. Its population was 52,890 inhabitants in the 2022 census.
Toponymy
The name "Congonhas" comes from congonha, a shrub once abundant in the region. According to the Dicionário de Tupi Antigo, the name of the shrub comes from the southern língua geral, under Guarani influence. The form congõi is also recorded in the Tesoro de la Lengua Guaraní, a dictionary of Old Guarani, from which the word entered the língua geral.
History
Origins in the search for gold
thumb|left|upright|Congonha Bate-Caixa plant
thumb|left|upright|Eighteenth-century gold mine in Congonhas
The first recorded contacts between bandeirantes and the Indigenous Carijós peoples in the area date to 1691, in a place known as Passagem do Gagé, between Congonhas and Conselheiro Lafaiete. One of the expeditions followed the basin toward the Doce River, and in the region of Itaverava the first gold declaration in Minas Gerais was made.
Other expeditions moved northward, toward the Rio das Velhas basin. Using the Serra do Deus te Livre, or Serra do Ouro Branco, as a reference point, they skirted the range and found significant gold deposits in the region of the Ribeirão do Carmo. This led to the emergence of Mariana, the first town in Minas Gerais, in 1696, along with dozens of mining settlements along the route. Other expeditions followed the basin of the Paraopeba River.
After passing through the area of present-day Passagem do Gagé, and descending the Soledade, Macaquinhos and Maranhão rivers, the first reports of gold finds in Congonhas do Campo appeared at the end of the seventeenth century. These routes, opened during the search for gold, formed the main gold road until the early decades of the eighteenth century, linking the region of Vila Rica to Paraty. It became known as the Caminho Velho of the Estrada Real.
Between 1707 and 1709, the struggle for gold led to the War of the Emboabas, which involved clashes and persecutions among settlers from São Paulo, outsiders from other regions known as emboabas, and Indigenous groups. One of the landmarks associated with the conflict is the ruin of the Cadeia, or jail, which was used to hold people detained during the fighting. It still stands in the present-day district of Alto Maranhão.
In 1718, a sesmaria was granted for the creation of the settlement of Redondo, now Alto Maranhão. The settlement was associated with the Portuguese brothers José and João da Silva Redondo, pioneering families who established roots in the district through devotion to Nossa Senhora da Ajuda.
In 1734, construction began on the second hermitage of the mother church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, officially creating the settlement of Congonhas do Campo, then belonging to Vila Rica. The open span of the church's nave is considered one of the largest in the country. Its soapstone portal is attributed to Aleijadinho, during his first period of work in Congonhas. The interior, with features of the baroque and rococo, includes work attributed to the Portuguese artist Francisco Vieira Servas.
By that time, chapels already existed in the surrounding area, including Nossa Senhora da Ajuda in the settlement of Redondo, Santa Quitéria, with a date of 1717 carved into it, and Nossa Senhora da Soledade in Lobo Leite.
Cônego Luís Vieira da Silva was born in the region, in Lobo Leite, in 1735. He became a canon in the Archdiocese of Mariana and, because of his intellectual ability and book collection, is regarded as one of the principal thinkers of the Inconfidência Mineira. He died in 1805 as a political prisoner in a convent.
In 1750, the Portuguese landholder Manoel José Monteiro de Barros obtained possession of three sesmarias in the region of Congonhas do Campo and became the guarda-mor of mining activity in the area.
Seeing Intendant Câmara's determination to produce iron in Brazil on an industrial scale, and the progress of existing projects, von Eschwege proposed building a foundry in Congonhas at much lower cost: