Cataguases

Cataguases is a city located in the southeastern part of the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. It is mainly an industrial centre (textile, metallurgy, clothes) with a strong influence of coffee plantation in its early history (19th century). The population was estimated at about 62,000 inhabitants in 1996 and is expected to be at about 66,000 in 2001. According to the census conducted by IBGE in 2010,a population of 70210 inhabitants.

The town was somewhat famous in the 1920s because of the Brazilian cinema pioneer Humberto Mauro and the appearance of a generation of writers around the short-lived Revista Verde. Humberto Mauro shot there some films that earned him a good reputation nationwide. He later became famous for masterpieces like Braza Dormida (Sleeping Fire) and O Descobrimento do Brasil (The Finding of Brazil) and was a reputed Tupi language scholar.

Industrialisation changed the town quite a lot and caused some of its citizens to become very rich in the 1920s and 1930s. As a result the city centre was remodeled accordingly to the ultimate architecture styles. Oscar Niemeyer (Architect), Cândido Portinari, Djanira and Emeric Marcier (Painters) are some of the famous Brazilian artists who left contributions there at that time.