Curral Mountain Ridge
Belo Horizonte/MG
Description:Serra do Curral (Curral Mountain Ridge) is the boundary between the townships of Belo Horizonte and Nova Lima. It is composed of rocks typical of the formation of the complex that composes the Quadrilátero Ferrífero (Ferriferous Quadrilateral), formed in the Middle Pre-Cambrian Era. The Curral Mountain Ridge is the most representative geographic mark of the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region. It has an expressive symbolic meaning, consisting of many landscape complexes, geological registers of millions of years, and vegetation that suits the region climate and environment. It is also a barrier that protects the city, favouring its pleasant climate, protecting it from windstorms from the South and from the North hot wind. The listing includes the peak landscape complex and the highest and noblest mountain part. However, it protects just a part of it. Although its shape has been altered throughout the years by miners, it stands out in the city landscape for its monumental beauty and is a reference for the Belo Horizonte inhabitants and visitors. It is considered a cultural forger and a witness of the region evolution and occupation, consisting of a live monument of biodiversity and geo-diversity.
Situation:The area of Curral Mountain Ridge listed by IPHAN is part of a natural reserve of the township of Belo Horizonte. The mountain is marked by aggressions to its original aspect, as it has been constantly modified by mining and by inadequate occupation. The danger of burnings, in the dry season, still threatens the mountain ridge fauna and flora, and there is not a systemic project to combat fire. According to the data from a fieldwork done in 2003, this building is in a regular state of conservation.
Inventory information:This monument was listed on September 21, 1960, process 591-T-58, registration number 29-A, in the Archeological, Ethnographical and Landscape Book, p. 08.
