The architectural style of the Chapada Diamantina reflects the rich history of the region, strongly influenced by the diamond mining cycle of the 18th and 19th centuries and the presence of European elements, mainly Portuguese.

The historic towns of the Chapada, such as Lençóis, Mucugê and Rio de Contas, are dominated by colonial buildings with simple, colourful facades decorated with wood and iron details. These buildings follow symmetrical patterns, with traces of Baroque and Neoclassical styles, reflected in churches, mansions and townhouses that hark back to the golden age of mining.

The region’s architecture also adapts to the rugged terrain and makes use of natural resources such as stone, which is present in both buildings and pavements. This integration with the environment gives the towns of the Chapada Diamantina a historic and picturesque atmosphere, preserving their cultural identity and attracting visitors.

In addition to their architectural diversity, chapadas are characterised by their simplicity and harmony with nature, using natural materials such as stone, wood and adobe, reinforcing their authentic and sustainable character.

Adobe is a brick made of earth and plant fibres mixed with water, shaped and dried in the open air (without burning).

Chapada Diamantina architecture: history, tradition and beauty

The architectural style of the Chapada Diamantina is influenced by several factors, such as the local culture, the climate, the availability of materials and the Portuguese colonisation of Brazil, reflected in the colonial style.

1. Taipa Houses: Tradition and Sustainability

One of the most important examples of vernacular architecture in the region are the taipa houses, also known as mud houses. Built of clay mixed with straw and wood, these structures have thick walls that help keep the interior temperature comfortable, even in the intense summer heat. In addition to their functionality, these houses have a rustic charm and a strong connection with nature.

2. Colonial architecture and diamond history

Another architectural highlight of the Chapada Diamantina is the colonial style, which dates from the time when the region was an important diamond trade route. The town of Igatu, wedged between rocky outcrops, rivers and waterfalls, preserves a 19th century historic house built of stone, a remnant of the mining era.

The colonial buildings are characterised by colourful facades, wide balconies and wooden windows, elements that preserve the memory of the golden age of mining and tell the history of the region.

3. Churches and chapels: Architectural treasures

Religious architecture also plays a fundamental role in the Chapada Diamantina. Old churches and chapels are true historical treasures, with Baroque altars, sacred paintings and golden details that recall the grandeur of the colonial past.

Walking through its cobbled streets, admiring its houses, plazas and temples, is a real journey back in time to when the region prospered from the gold and diamond cycles.

Architectural highlights of the cities of Chapada Diamantina

1. Rio de Contas
2. Igatu
3. Lençóis in Bahia
4. Mucugê
5. Morro do Chapéu

1. Rio de Contas: Architectural and Historical Heritage of the Chapada Diamantina

Listed by IPHAN in 1980, the architectural complex of Rio de Contas preserves squares and streets with a colonial layout, as well as public and religious stone monuments, adobe houses and baroque churches.

The Historic-Artistic Site contains 287 centuries-old buildings:

• City Hall and Prison (now the Forum)
• Mother Church of the Blessed Sacrament
• Church of Santana

These buildings, individually listed since 1958, date from the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The architecture follows the model of the Bahian coast: stone monuments and adobe houses with white facades and blue frames, reminiscent of the aesthetics of Paraty (RJ).

On the outskirts of the town are the remains of dams, aqueducts, tunnels and galleries, evidence of the region’s intense gold mining activity.

Situated to the south of the Chapada Diamantina, in the Serra das Almas, Rio de Contas has a regular and homogeneous layout and is one of the rare colonial “new towns” planned by Portugal. Founded by royal decree in 1745, the town was to be built on a healthy site with architecture that would ensure its beautification.

Initially a mining centre, Rio de Contas became an important regional capital and has retained its rich historical heritage to this day.

Architectural monuments

1. City Hall and Prison of Rio de Contas
2. Mother Church of the Blessed Sacrament
3. São Carlos Theatre
4. House on Barão de Macaúbas Street
5. Church of Santana

1. City Hall and Prison in Rio de Contas

The current forum of Barão de Macaúbas. It is a building from the middle of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th century, a late example of a town hall and prison, with two floors covered by a hipped roof and a rectangular floor plan with interconnecting rooms.

The ground floor housed the prison, the jailer’s house and the audience. Situated between two squares, it is notable for its volume and its layout, and its special feature is the popular bell, which is placed on the jamb of one of the windows on the second floor.

2. Mother Church of the Blessed Sacrament

The Igreja Matriz do Santíssimo Sacramento was built in the second half of the 18th century as the mother church of Vila Nova de Nossa Senhora do Livramento and Minas do Rio de Contas, and is considered the most important example of religious architecture in the Bahian interior, with a strong Baroque influence.

It was designed with side aisles surmounted by tribune galleries, but the corbelled tribunes, foundations and stones indicate that the building was never completed.

It has a T-shaped floor plan with a single nave with a choir, a presbytery with two juxtaposed vestries and a tower. Its volumetry is characterised by the interplay of roof heights and finishes, framed by corner stones.

Inside, the woodwork of the pelmets, the choir balustrades, the tribune and the pulpit staircase, among other elements, stand out.

The ceiling of the presbytery has an Italian-inspired illusionist painting.

IPHAN carried out the restoration of the artistic assets (furniture and built-in objects).

During the work, an unusual baroque niche was discovered, in chinoiserie, a style popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, with a strong oriental influence from Goa (India) or Macau (China), territories occupied by the Portuguese.

3. São Carlos Theatre

The São Carlos Theatre is one of the three oldest theatres in Brazil and the oldest in the interior of Bahia. Opened in 1892, it has hosted countless performances by local groups and productions from other parts of Brazil. It is currently used as a space for educational and cultural activities.

4. House on Barão de Macaúbas Street

Its architectural features – house and shop – suggest that it dates from the mid-19th century, a type common on the eastern slopes of the Chapada Diamantina and Serra Geral during the diamond era.

The house, of self-supporting masonry and mud construction, is virtually square in plan, with a service outbuilding at the rear.

One part of the house was used as a shop, with a separate entrance and storage rooms, while the other part was used as a residence, with social and family rooms at the front and back, separated by bedrooms and niches along a central corridor.

The stucco and leaf bas-reliefs stand out and give the building a certain uniqueness.

5. Church of Santana (ruins)

It dates from the first half of the 18th century and is located in the old square of the same name (now Duke of Caxias Square), set back from the neighbouring buildings and preceded by a cemetery (external space) connected to the nave by a wide staircase.

Built in stone, it was never completed and its construction was stopped around 1850 due to the exodus of the local population to another region of Minas Gerais.

It has three naves and a presbytery that communicates with the adjacent sacristies through arches. At the back of the choir, high windows give it a special character.

The side aisles and towers are no higher than the ground floor, and it seems that they were the first to be covered with galleries.

The frontispiece has three fully arched entrance doors surmounted by the same number of slit windows, and the stone walls are not plastered, except for the pediment and the upper part of the façade.

2. Igatu: The Bahian Machu Picchu and its Diamond Mining Legacy

The architectural, urban and landscape ensemble of Igatu, a district of Andaraí, was inscribed by IPHAN in 2000. Known as Xique-Xique do Igatu or Cidade de Pedras (City of Stones), the village preserves the ruins of stone-built dwellings that bear witness to the mining cycle in the Chapada Diamantina.

The property includes the ruins of the old dwellings between the bridge over the Coisa Boa River and the old mining road, and the original village centre, dating from the 19th century, which is in an excellent state of preservation. The protected perimeter includes about 200 properties.

A living mining museum

Igatu is a true open air museum, preserving traces of the heyday and decline of mining. The Art and Memory Gallery displays utensils used by miners and enslaved people, revealing the harsh reality of working in the diamond fields.

Nestled among rock outcrops, rivers and waterfalls, Igatu is home to a 19th century historic house built from rough stones left over from the mining. Its unique landscape has earned it the title of Machu Picchu Baiana, in reference to the famous Inca city in Peru.

Gold and the city’s decline

At the height of the mining boom, Igatu had more than 10,000 inhabitants and large colonial mansions where the diamond barons lived. The town was prosperous, but the decline of the diamond industry led to its decay and most of the population left.

For years, the town remained almost abandoned, with houses and shops closed. However, some residents fought back and, in time, Igatu was rebuilt.

Igatu today: Tourism and Culture

Today, the city attracts visitors from all over the world, with tourism being its main economic activity. The destination is a reference for those seeking historical and cultural tourism, ecotourism and adventure tourism.

Igatu is also the birthplace of the writer Herberto Sales, author of Cascalho, a novel that describes the power of coronelismo in local society.

As in much of the northeast, coronelismo shaped the history of the town, influencing its customs and social structure. Today, Igatu keeps its memory alive, offering visitors a true journey through time among stone ruins, trails and a priceless cultural heritage.

Architectural monuments

1. Stone houses in Igatu
2. Church and cemetery of São Sebastião

1. Stone houses in Igatu

2. Church and Cemetery of São Sebastião

3. Lençóis: The architectural and landscape heritage of Chapada Diamantina

The Architectural and Landscape Complex of Lençóis, located in the Chapada Diamantina, was listed by IPHAN in 1973. Located in the central-western region of Bahia, the city lies in a natural amphitheatre on the eastern slope of the Serra do Sincorá and is part of the lush landscape of the Chapada Diamantina National Park.

With a rich heritage, Lençóis has preserved its original characteristics and stands out for its colourful houses, irregular streets and mining history. The conservation area includes some 570 buildings that bear witness to the town’s economic heyday in the 19th century.

Diamond wealth and the rise of Lençóis

Between 1845 and 1871, Lençóis was the world’s largest diamond producer and the third most important city in Bahia. It became a major trading centre, exporting diamonds to Europe and importing luxury goods. Its development was so rapid that France set up a vice consulate in the city to facilitate trade.

It was during this period that the first sobrados and more elaborate buildings appeared, reflecting the town’s economic rise. The town’s houses, most of which date from the 19th century, were built using a variety of techniques, mainly adobe, stone and wooden constructions with rammed earth seals. The lively facades of the houses and sobrados form the visual identity of Lençóis.

Urbanism and architecture: The evolution of space

Unlike other historic towns, Lençóis has no dominant monument. Its growth was marked by mining and adaptation to the rugged terrain, resulting in an irregular layout of streets, squares and small plazas.

The city was formed by the merger of two centres:

• Serrano, in an elevated area next to a rapids.
• São Félix, on the opposite bank of the river.

As the city grew, the two joined, with the Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição and the bridge built in 1860 forming the central axis, the latter built to provide employment during the great drought of 1859-1862.

Horácio de Matos Square and the Great Sobrados

From this period, the Large Sobrados were created, which now mark the Horácio de Matos Square, formerly the Market Square, where there are five listed buildings. One of these was the Casa do Conselho, demolished in the 1940s to make way for the Post and Telegraph Office.

The streets of Lençóis reflect its past:

• Some are paved with natural stone.
• Others are paved with irregular stones that form decorative patterns.
• The new streets follow the colonial pattern, rising and falling according to the terrain.

Lençóis today: A living heritage

Today, Lençóis is one of Bahia’s most popular tourist destinations, combining history, culture and nature. Its colonial houses, together with the trails, waterfalls and caves of the Chapada Diamantina, make it a living heritage, where the past of mining meets the present of tourism.

Architectural monuments

1. Horácio de Matos Square
2. Municipal Public Market
3. Bridge over the Lençóis River
4. City Hall
5. Arena Theatre
6. Church of Our Lady of the Rosary
7. Church of Our Lord of the Stairs
8. Afrânio Peixoto Cultural Centre
9. Public Archives

1. Horácio de Matos Square

2. Municipal Public Market

3. Bridge over the river Lençóis

4. Town hall, where Iphan’s technical office is located

5. Arena Theatre

6. Church of Our Lady of the Rosary

7. Church of Our Lord of the Stairs

8. Afrânio Peixoto Cultural Centre

9. Public Archives

4. Mucugê: Architectural and natural heritage of the Chapada Diamantina

The architectural and landscape ensemble of Mucugê, with its Byzantine cemetery in particular, was listed by IPHAN in 1980. The town, one of the oldest in the Chapada Diamantina, played a key role in the exploitation of gold and diamonds, as did Lençóis.

With a well-preserved architectural heritage, Mucugê still has single-storey houses and 19th-century townhouses, as well as two historic churches.

Town planning: L-shaped growth

Mucugê is situated in a wide, flat valley, surrounded by steep slopes. To adapt to the terrain, its urbanisation followed an “L” shape, with churches at each end.

• Rua Direita do Comércio: Parallel to the Mucugê stream, it is thought to have been the original centre of the settlement.
• Small square at the convergence of the streets, reinforcing the monuclear typology of the city.

Colonial houses and urban expansion

The listed site includes the entire urban area and the cemetery on the hill, the latter far from the original centre.
The city grew through strips of flat land, limited between them:

• The colonial centre.
• The stone fences.
• The escarpment where the cemetery is.

New houses and public buildings were built in these areas that could not be built into the colonial houses.

The colonial houses, built in the late 18th and 19th centuries, use adobe or stone. Mucugê stands out for its architectural preservation, clean and landscaped streets, with flower beds that give the town its charm.

Byzantine cemetery: An icon of the city

Mucugê’s Cemetery, one of the most emblematic in Brazil, is inspired by Byzantine architecture, with small white mausoleums built into the hillside. It stands out for its unique appearance and its location away from the city centre.

Cultural and historical heritage

In addition to its architecture, the city has stories of struggle and resistance, including

• Mining disputes.
• Conflicts against the Prestes Column.
• The power of the colonels who dominated the region’s politics and economy.

Nature and contemplation

Mucugê also stands out for its natural beauty, with waterfalls, valleys and canyons. One of the most famous places is Alto do Capa Bode, considered a place of contemplation, perfect for enjoying the scenery of Chapada Diamantina.

Mucugê: History and nature in harmony

With its architectural collection of 300 single-storey houses and 10 sobrados, its flowery streets and its mining heritage, Mucugê is a destination where history, culture and nature meet, preserving its colonial heritage and landscape.

Architectural monuments

1. Santa Isabel Cemetery
2. Mother Church of Santa Isabel

1. Santa Isabel Cemetery

The Santa Isabel Cemetery (also known as the “Byzantine Cemetery”) is located between the historic centre and the hillside, with a flat walled area and a special area where there is a group of mausoleums whose facades reproduce miniatures of church and chapel facades – resting on the rocky hillside – and are characterised by their white colour.

The landscaping integrates the mausoleums into the decomposing rock.

Built in the 19th century, the silhouette of the white tombs stands out against the mountainous backdrop. Located on the rocky slopes of Serra do Sincorá, to the north-west of Mucugê, construction began in 1854 by the town council.

It was completed in 1886, when an epidemic struck the city.

The site was probably chosen because it was flat, easy to dig and close to the town.

The cemetery is divided into two parts: one is flat and walled, on the alluvial soil of the valley where the shallow graves are located, and the other consists of a group of mausoleums built on the rocky slope of the mountain.

The whitewashed tombs can be seen from afar and blend into the Cerrado landscape.

The mausoleums, like the vegetation, grow out of the bare rock in an integration similar to the “locas” or “caves”, the dwellings of the prospectors who settled in the region.

They can be distinguished by the colour of the mausoleums – built in stone and/or brick, plastered and whitewashed – and many end in ornamental arches, crowned and many others are miniature churches and chapels.

2. Parish Church of Santa Isabel

Igreja Matriz de Santa Isabel – Built in the mid-19th century by Brother Caetano de Troyria, with the great help of the local population, on land donated by Colonel Reginaldo Landulpho.

It was completely restored by Iphan in 2014, with conservation work on the building and the restoration of the movable assets integrated into the monument (collection of sacred images).

The temple had deteriorated due to the weather and the natural wear and tear of the materials, which threatened religious activities.

It has a neoclassical façade, with three interior naves and a U-shaped choir, structured by stone masonry and interior columns.

Some works were carried out in 1952, including the replacement of the stone floor with tiles, and the roof was restored in 1978.

5. Morro do Chapéu: Nature, history and archaeology of the Chapada Diamantina

Located in the Chapada Diamantina, Morro do Chapéu stands out for its natural and historical-cultural wealth. The town is home to waterfalls, caves and archaeological sites, as well as traces of the diamond cycle.

Natural and Archaeological Heritage

Morro do Chapéu is a true ecological paradise, with unique geological formations and breathtaking landscapes. Its attractions include

• Impressive waterfalls, such as the Cachoeira do Ferro Doido, with a drop of over 100 metres, located in an impressive canyon.
• Caves and caverns, some of which are still little explored, with limestone formations and rock inscriptions.
• Archeological sites, where traces of the indigenous people who inhabited the region thousands of years ago have been found.

Vila do Ventura: The Diamond Past

On the outskirts of the city lies Vila do Ventura, which was the largest diamond centre in the region at the beginning of the 20th century. This village was a centre of mineral extraction and still preserves ruins and buildings from that time, bearing witness to the heyday of diamond mining in the Chapada.

A destination for history and adventure

Morro do Chapéu is the perfect destination for those seeking contact with nature, history and culture. Its rich natural and archaeological heritage, added to the legacy of diamond mining, makes it one of the most fascinating places in Bahia.

Architectural Monuments

1. Parish Church of Our Lady of Grace
2. Grassi Family Villa
3. Village of Ventura

1. Parish Church of Our Lady of Mercy

In 1794, the Morro Velho farm was visited by the Capuchin missionary Brother Clemente de Adorno, who celebrated Mass there during his journey, built a small cemetery and left, leaving the locals with the idea of building a chapel.

In 1800, the locals themselves began work on what would become the town’s mother church. This church was one of the most beautiful in the region, not only because of its façade, but also because of the artistic work inside.

2. Grassi family villa

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Italian Grassi family lived in this house. The father of the family was called Giuseppe, but he was called “Giuseppino”.

As the family owned much of the land around the village, it gave it the name of “Toca do Pepino” (Cucumber Cave), a well known cave which now houses several cave paintings.

3. Vila do Ventura

Around 1840, runaway gold miners from Lençóis took refuge near the present Várzea da Cobra farm.

One of these prospectors was named Ventura. They soon discovered diamonds and carbonate in the region and set up a small garimpo.

They then sold the stones in Lençóis, with the prospector Ventura responsible for selling the first diamonds.

The name “Ventura” became a reference and the place began to attract many other prospectors, who began to populate the land around the area.

The small town soon fell into decline as a result of the Paraguayan War, as almost all the men were conscripted to fight.

After the war, the town grew again to around 12,000 inhabitants and reached its peak with strong trade, schools, a post office and chapels.

Today only three families live in the area, which has ruins and mansions in its cobbled streets.

It has ruins from the golden age of mining when it was the largest diamond producer in the region.

It was the largest diamond producing centre in the region, with a population of around 4,000 in the 1920s and even a theatre and philharmonic. Mining declined with the drought of 1932 and changes in the carbonate market.

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