Vila Rica and the notion of “ big city” in the transition from the Ancient Regime to the contemporary era

Abstract

During the last decades, the economic history of colonial Minas Gerais under went several reviews. The notion of decay after the mining crisis was nuanced, in exchange of a more complex view that show the diversification of economic activities and the occupation of new territorial spaces. This paper presents the evolution of the current city of Ouro Preto, reviewing the gold decline myth about the urban space of the first capital of the Minas Gerais.