South of Minas Gerais Rural districts

Abstract

This article aims to demonstrate the forms of occupation in the rural area of the South of Minas region, specifically in the region comprising part of the Verde River basin and part of the Sapucai River Basin. Within the South-Southwest region of Minas Gerais, our study points to the Itajubá micro region, with the municipalities of Cristina, Delfim Moreira, Dom Viçoso, Itajubá, Maria da Fé, Piranguçu, Venceslau Brás, and in the micro region of São Lourenço, with an case in the municipality of Carmo de Minas. As a result of the Rural Heritage Inventory, accomplished by IPHAN – in 2007, which aimed the survey of the coffee-producing farmhouses, the current report discusses the natural landscape and the rural environment built along these farms. The here presented spatial organization of the districts – sometimes in dense clusters, other times in rarefied distribution throughout the territory – seeks to show another side of the occupation process of the territory. In this context, this study analyses mainly the dwelling houses, emphasizing its situation on the terrain, and the constructive systems, underscoring the self-sustaining brick masonry from the mid-XX century. By studying this landscape and trying to understand the previous ways of using rural space, the text points to the acknowledgment and the appreciation of cultural heritage, as a subside for planning and sustainable development and also as a contribution for the reinforcement of the identity of these rural communities, with possible and desirable unfolding in the education and economical fields.