Barbacena

Barbacena is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with 125,317 inhabitants at the 2022 census and a total area of 788 square kilometres. It lies in the foothills of the Serra da Mantiqueira at an elevation of 1,136 metres, one of the ten highest cities in Brazil, on the BR-040 highway that links Brasília to Rio de Janeiro, about 165 kilometres from the state capital Belo Horizonte. Founded on 14 August 1791, it was a principal distribution centre for the mining districts in the 19th century. The cool climate and abundant rain made it the biggest flower producer in Minas Gerais, earning the nickname City of Roses, and it also has dairy farming and small textile factories. It is known for Italian immigration, the Preparatory School of Air Cadets, a medical school, and the Hospital Colônia, a mental hospital founded in 1903 and remembered for its abusive treatment of patients.