I spent the Easter weekend on a visit to the old city of OURO PRETO which translated means, literally, ''Gold Black'' - testimony to the fact that this beautiful baroque city which appears to be an old Portuguese town uprooted and plonked in the new world is in fact built on the sweat and lives of the many slaves who were brought here to work in the gold mines of the Portuguese empire.
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| One of many beautiful churches! |
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| Sacks of coloured sawdust are the material |
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| Tapeta |
    Ouro Preto retains its antique appearance to this day and every Easter, the inhabitants, following a tradition that is at least 300 years old, decorate the city streets with dyed sawdust to create carpets of colourful designs on religious themes using their hands and plywood stencils  |
| Rooftops of Ouro Preto |
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| Crowds watching the tapetas take shape |
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| Early morning inspection of artwork |
Working through the night, dozens of people labour to transform the city and by dawn the tapetas are finished. The early morning crowds arrive to admire the designs, stroll up and down the kilometer or so of artwork and gather to await the Easter Sunday procession that will follow the night's hard work.
After Easter Mass, a procession of hundreds of people, many in biblical costume, walks along the decorated streets from one church to another, and trampling all over the tapetas, whose transient beauty will not be seen for another year
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