Igreja Santa Efigenia stands high above Ouro Preto, and the climb is part of the experience. The church is closely associated with the city’s Black brotherhoods and Afro-Brazilian Catholic devotion, giving it a different emotional weight from the richer churches in the centre.
From the terrace you get one of Ouro Preto’s great views: tiled roofs, steep lanes, and church towers stacked across the hills. Inside, look for the Baroque carving and the sense of a community sanctuary built under the harsh social realities of the mining era.