Juiz de Fora

Juiz de Fora lies in the Paraibuna valley, along the Caminho Novo between the goldfields of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. Opened in the early eighteenth century, this road carried people and supplies as well as precious metal between the interior and the coast. Land grants and settlements followed its course. By 1784 Santo Antônio do Paraibuna was recorded among the places in the district, a forerunner of the town that grew here.