Belo Horizonte Travel: A Star-Studded Home for Brazil"s Soccer Craze
Updated on Feb.23, 2014
Belo Horizonte helps tell the story of Brazil's favorite sport and celebrate its roots, heroes, and teams at the Brazilian Soccer Museum (Museu Brasileiro do Futebol, or MBF).
Opened in March 2013 at at the Minas Arena (aka Mineirão), the museum featuring an interaction of soccer with culture and art forms received over 47,000 visitors in its first year. And in the last week of January 2014, it became all the more appealing thanks to the opening of five new exhibition rooms, with new multimedia resources and the return of some beloved attractions from the old Mineirão - including a sidewalk of fame which now hangs on a wall.
The bronze plaques with hand and foot prints of soccer stars who shone at the Mineirão, including Pelé, are in the Campos Gerais room, whose name evokes both the expanses of Minas Gerais and soccer fields (campos de futebol). On one of the walls, an interactive memory game uses the shields of Minas teams such as Guarani, founded in 1930 in Divinópolis, and Montes Claros, founded in 1992 in the town by the same name.
In the Confederations Cup room, world soccer fans will probably enjoy finding Jonathan Tehau's jersey on display among other memorabilia from the 2013 event. The midfielder scored the first goal for Tahiti in a major international tournament in a match won by Nigeria by 6-1.
It should be easy for most visitors to recognize caricatures of famous players such as Ronaldinho Gaúcho in the room called Soccer and the Arts (Futebol e as Artes). Other works of art covered in the exhibition are dance, literature and sculpture.
In ABC of Soccer, part of the fun is in learning soccer terms in several languages.
Luis Gustavo Vieira, a Brazilian architect specialized in museums who worked on the project by Object Design, said in an interview to Agência Minas, the official news agency, that interactive displays helped merge collections from the old and new Mineirão. "We bet on interactivity because we can use technology for renewal of the collections, which could lead to a new visit - if you couldn't see all the content during one visit, there will be more to see the next time."
The museum, which now has an area of 1,000 square meters, was built in accordance with sustainable practices and the inclusive principles of Universal Design just like all of Minas Arena, according to the company.
Museum coordinator Thiago Carlos Costa said that the MBF expects an increase of 50% in the number of visitors in 2014, when Belo Horizonte is one of the 12 host cities in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
Museu Brasileiro do Futebol
Visits: Tuesday to Friday on the hour (first tour at 9 a.m., last tour at 5 p.m.). On Saturday and Sunday, tours start on the hour at 9 a.m. with the last tour at 1 p.m.
There are no tours on game days.
Stadium and museum visits by groups of 10 people or more can be scheduled by phone (31-3499-4333) or by email (ouvidoria@minasarena.com.br). Tickets cost R$8 for each attraction and R$14 for both. Half-price tickets are available.
Official website: www.minasarena.com.br
Belo Horizonte helps tell the story of Brazil's favorite sport and celebrate its roots, heroes, and teams at the Brazilian Soccer Museum (Museu Brasileiro do Futebol, or MBF).
Opened in March 2013 at at the Minas Arena (aka Mineirão), the museum featuring an interaction of soccer with culture and art forms received over 47,000 visitors in its first year. And in the last week of January 2014, it became all the more appealing thanks to the opening of five new exhibition rooms, with new multimedia resources and the return of some beloved attractions from the old Mineirão - including a sidewalk of fame which now hangs on a wall.
The bronze plaques with hand and foot prints of soccer stars who shone at the Mineirão, including Pelé, are in the Campos Gerais room, whose name evokes both the expanses of Minas Gerais and soccer fields (campos de futebol). On one of the walls, an interactive memory game uses the shields of Minas teams such as Guarani, founded in 1930 in Divinópolis, and Montes Claros, founded in 1992 in the town by the same name.
In the Confederations Cup room, world soccer fans will probably enjoy finding Jonathan Tehau's jersey on display among other memorabilia from the 2013 event. The midfielder scored the first goal for Tahiti in a major international tournament in a match won by Nigeria by 6-1.
It should be easy for most visitors to recognize caricatures of famous players such as Ronaldinho Gaúcho in the room called Soccer and the Arts (Futebol e as Artes). Other works of art covered in the exhibition are dance, literature and sculpture.
In ABC of Soccer, part of the fun is in learning soccer terms in several languages.
Luis Gustavo Vieira, a Brazilian architect specialized in museums who worked on the project by Object Design, said in an interview to Agência Minas, the official news agency, that interactive displays helped merge collections from the old and new Mineirão. "We bet on interactivity because we can use technology for renewal of the collections, which could lead to a new visit - if you couldn't see all the content during one visit, there will be more to see the next time."
The museum, which now has an area of 1,000 square meters, was built in accordance with sustainable practices and the inclusive principles of Universal Design just like all of Minas Arena, according to the company.
Museum coordinator Thiago Carlos Costa said that the MBF expects an increase of 50% in the number of visitors in 2014, when Belo Horizonte is one of the 12 host cities in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
Museu Brasileiro do Futebol
Visits: Tuesday to Friday on the hour (first tour at 9 a.m., last tour at 5 p.m.). On Saturday and Sunday, tours start on the hour at 9 a.m. with the last tour at 1 p.m.
There are no tours on game days.
Stadium and museum visits by groups of 10 people or more can be scheduled by phone (31-3499-4333) or by email (ouvidoria@minasarena.com.br). Tickets cost R$8 for each attraction and R$14 for both. Half-price tickets are available.
Official website: www.minasarena.com.br
