Travelers and explorers

In 1808, when the royal portuguese family dropped anchor in Brazil, began the first scientific expeditions in this territory, thanks to the harbours opening to foreign countries. Among the travelers who have come here at that time, there are prominent figures as naturalist Spix and Martius, Eschwege, Saint-Hilaire, Prince Maximilian von Wied-Neuwied, Baron Langsdorff, the russian consul, the painters Debret, Rugendas, Ender and the english John Luccock, Maria Graham and John Mawe. These people are responsible for our nature first studies and description of our landscapes. Geomorphology, very well represented was quite impressive to the curious europeans glances.

Since Frans Post, in 1649, the visitors', painters and naturalists glance has been attracted by Brazil's geological landscapes. Today, thanks to geotouristic outdoors, famous sites as Corcovado or Dedo de Deus (God Finger) in Rio de Janeiro are prominent geological monuments. Waterfalls and mountains have been quite registered during the XIXth century scientific expeditions, also because they characterize geographic references.

Small towns related to the mining, as Ouro Preto and Mariana in Minas Gerais, have always been interesting for geological context and the scenical contemplation has been increased by the mineral and geological information.

Waterfalls and mountains play a special role on the brazilian landscape pictorial representation, showing how the magnetismof these sites influence the human being.Ancient quarries and mines exercise strong fascination on visitors. The mineral extraction always was cause of interest, not only by applied technology, but also because it givesl fresh data from sub-surface.