Goiás Velho

The city of Goiás, better known as Goiás Velho, was founded in 1727 by the bandeirantes (explorers whose initial goals were to enslave the indigenous peoples and, later, to capture African slaves who had escaped into the interior), who settled here when they found gold and diamonds. By order of the king of Portugal, a mint was built here in 1774 to process the large amounts of gold found in the Serra Dourada (Golden Sierras)—a mountain range surrounding the city. The town kept growing well into the 1800s but became stagnant as the gold, silver, and gemstones disappeared.