Lavras

Lavras is a municipality in Southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Located at an altitude of 919 m, it has a population of 100,243 inhabitants (2015). The area of the municipality is 564.495 km². The average annual temperature is 19.6°C and the average annual rainfall is 1,511 millimetres.

Located at the Green Valley and Waterfalls tourist circuit, it is also near Waters circuit — a series of spas in the state of São Paulo and Minas Gerais — and the Inconfidentes Trail circuit — a historical region of Minas. Lavras is connected by highway to the state capital, Belo Horizonte (237 km), to São Paulo (379 km) and Rio de Janeiro (423 km).

History

Early settlement

The settlement of the Campos de Sant'Ana das Lavras do Funil dated from the first half of the 18th century, founded in 1729. The first inhabitants were the Paulista family of Francisco Bueno da Fonseca (c. 1670-1752), leader of a revolt against a Portuguese judge in São Paulo in 1712. Bueno da Fonseca, his sons and other explorers, settled in the region of the rivers Capivari and Grande by the years of 1720 or 1721, where they were engaged in the search for gold and in the opening of new roads to the Goiás mines. In 1737 the explorers receive from the Governor Martinho de Mendonça a allotment letter confirming their region occupation, which grew through agriculture and livestock.