Santa Luzia, Regional commercial center in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Santa Luzia sits 751 meters (2,464 feet) above sea level and covers 233 square kilometers (90 square miles) in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte. The São Benedito district forms the main commercial center, while rural areas surround the municipal territory.
The settlement began in 1692 when gold prospectors from Borba Gato's expedition founded the first village near Rio das Velhas. The town experienced political unrest during the nineteenth century and became a site of armed conflict during the Liberal Revolution.
The House of Culture occupies the former Solar Teixeira da Costa mansion and still shows bullet marks from the 1842 Liberal Revolution. These traces remind visitors of nineteenth-century political struggles and show how the town became part of larger historical events.
The urban zones focus on São Benedito district, while the rural parts of the municipality remain less developed. Visitors exploring the historic center find older buildings and squares that date back to the colonial period.
Emperor Pedro II documented his 1881 visit by sketching the historic center while staying at the Baroness Solar. His drawings record how the town looked more than a century ago and show the imperial view of the Brazilian province.
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