Follow me on this journey through the paths of Mar de Espanha, discovering and recording historical places, museums, landscapes and surprises... We covered 1,200 km in 4 days of travel and visited more than 20 cities! #minasgerais #vstrom650 #series 53 kilometers from Juiz de Fora and 55 kilometers from Três Rios is the district of São José das Três Ilhas. With approximately 250 inhabitants, it is part of the municipality of Belmiro Braga and is the ideal place for a half-day trip. The small village that is on the border between the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais is a quiet and uncrowded place that inspires peace. São José das Três Ilhas, which has already hosted the production of two national films (Lavoura Arcaica and o Menino Maluquinho), holds relics from the era of the coffee barons. Its historic center is fully preserved and is listed by the State Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage of Minas Gerais. The town center, which has remained unchanged, is basically characterized by a narrow and winding main street, colonial houses and the only two-story house in the area, the house of the Baron of São José Del Rei, which is also listed as a protected area. The preserved houses currently house residences and some commercial buildings, such as the registry office and the only inn in the area. The first resident of the region was Antônio Bernadino de Barros, who later became the Baron of the Three Islands. It was he, along with the contributions of his brother, the Baron of São José del Rei, and other local farmers, who began construction on the main attraction of the area, the Matriz de São José church, which has also been listed as a protected area since 1997. Construction of the church began in 1878, 10 years before the abolition of slavery, based on a project by the architect Quintiliano Nery Ribeiro. The work was carried out by the Portuguese master mason Manoel Joaquim Rodrigues. The stone blocks were brought by slaves and they also helped with the construction. The cornerstone was laid on August 1, 1880, and the first mass was celebrated in May 1886, but construction was interrupted shortly after the signing of the golden law that abolished slavery. When construction resumed, the material used to finish the church was also changed, and the sign is at the top. Instead of stones, bricks support the roofs. In a neo-romantic style marked by its construction with monochromatic stones and its abundance of round arches, it was an expression of the power of the region's coffee barons in the 19th century. Inside the church, the arches and columns are also made of stone. The paintings and some of the furniture, such as the confessional, are also original.