Casa dos Contos
An 18th-century tax collector's mansion later used as a mint and prison, now a museum of currency and fiscal history, including a slave dungeon.
The mansion was built in the 1780s by the wealthy merchant João Rodrigues de Macedo. It later served as the royal treasury office and gold-smelting mint. Cláudio Manuel da Costa, a conspirator of the Inconfidência Mineira, was imprisoned here and died in his cell. The museum displays colonial-era coins, gold bars, and weighing instruments. The basement preserves a dark space where enslaved people lived. Admission is free or low-cost. It is located beside the Ponte dos Contos.
Opening hours
Tue–Sun, approx. 10:00–17:00
Nearby sights
- Teatro Municipal de Ouro Preto (Casa da Ópera)
- Museum of Science and Technology of the School of Mines
- Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- Praça Tiradentes
- Museu do Oratório
- Matriz de Nossa Senhora do Pilar
- Museu da Inconfidência
- Soapstone Craft Fair (Largo de Coimbra)