Santa Luzia, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil

🇧🇷 Santa Luzia is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte and to the microregion of Belo Horizonte.

It is located at an altitude of 751 meters. It has the highest population concentration and commercial activity in the district of São Benedito, located eight km from the centre of the municipality.

History: Colonial period The history of the municipality originated with adventurers who, in search of riches, discovered Santa Luzia. It all started in 1692, during the gold cycle. An expedition of the remnants of the Borba Gato flag implanted the first nucleus of the Village, on the banks of the Rio das Velhas, in which alluvium gold mining was made. In 1695 a large flood of the river destroyed the entire village, located near the current neighborhood of Bicas, so the small village moved to the top of the hill, where today it is the historic centre of the city. In 1697, the definitive village was erected, which received the name of Bom Retiro. In 1724 the Parish of Santa Luzia was created, subordinate to Sabará.

There are already some camps nearby and along the Rio das Velhas, there was, however, a great gap between Roça Grande and the region of Sete Lagoas, making it difficult to supply the nomadic populations and the rest of the troops that ruled the north of the state. At that time, several farms began to emerge, in vast latifundia, created for the rest of cattle and to supply the regional supply.

With the growing movement that operated in the region of Sete Lagoas, several roads were opened, which, reaching Jequitibá, crossed several localities, among them, the camp of Santa Luzia. These roads played an important role in the settlement of the region, not only for the intense trade they provided, but also for the establishment of ranches and chapels and for the numerous human contingents, which flowed through them the Mines, coming from the North and the ports of Bahia. The definitive village of Santa Luzia would have appeared between 1721 and 1729, at the top of the hills, in whose valleys ran the córrego das Calçadas, the córrego Seco or do Dantas and the córrego dos Cordeiros, undermined at the time, by miners in search of gold.

In this place, at the top of the hill, a ranch was built that welcomed numerous troops coming from Sabará and other localities, by the roads that crossed in the form of a "T" and that gave rise to Rua do Serro, Rua Direita and Rua Santa Luzia. However, unlike most mining villages at the time, Santa Luzia grew and flourished much more due to trade than mining. The mining work developed in the streams of Calçadas, Seco and Cordeiros, but the village did not grow there, but on top of a nearby hill, next to a ranch that welcomed troops that traded between the sertão and Rio de Janeiro. It is important to emphasize the religious factor in the formation of the village, because this only arose when sparklers and muleteers built a chapel, dedicated to Santa Luzia, in front of the ranch, which was later entirely used for the main chapel of the matrix. The construction of the chapel, instead of troop movement, served to develop commercial activity on the site, attracting people there who were scattered throughout the neighboring regions. The village grew near the chapel, on the edge of the roads, living, side by side, residences and commercial houses. The camp was formed at the intersection of two roads: the one that came from Sabará towards the sertão, on the way to Serro and Bahia, reaching the ranch in front of the old entrance of the Chapel, giving rise to the "Rua do Serro"; and the stay on the right of the old chapel, which followed towards Lagoa Santa and Sete Lagoas received the name In 1734 there were already a lot of people in the camp, which spread through the spike and the slopes that went up the sidewalk stream. The mining activity was extinguished, giving way to the intensification of trade, which in 1740 already had 30 establishments. At that time, Santa Luzia played an important role as a shopping centre, making a transaction of skins and saltpeter, with the north of the state and with Rio de Janeiro. Due to its strategic location, the village has flourished a lot due to the trade of mining areas, playing the role of commercial warehouse in the sertão. In a document of 1752, the bishop of Mariana, D. Friar Manoel da Cruz, proposes the transfer of the seat of the parish of the camp of Roça Grande to that of Santa Luzia, justifying: “ (… ) the camp of Santa Luzia is one of the most populous in Minas Gerais and its Church is new, with a lot of greatness and well paramented, being almost in the middle of the parish, all circumstances that compete for V. Majesty to be served to have the above-mented change made (… ) ”

Which was only effective in 1779, after a series of setbacks with the parish of Roça Grande. As the camp progressed, a wealthy social elite was formed there, with sophisticated habits of life and culture with striking French influence. Santa Luzia, followed the tradition of important towns in Minas Gerais, such as Sabará and Diamantina, which soon developed the taste of literature and theater. Already in the second half of the eighteenth century there is news of the inclusion of plays in the program of his civic and religious festivals, in addition to the performance of operas in several villages, such as, for example, in Sabará, in 1799.

Civic event in front of the school group at the beginning of the 20th century.

The religious spirit of the Luzians was not only translated into the construction of beautiful temples, but also into some traditional festivals. The most famous were that of the patron saint of the place, that of the Rosary, promoted by blacks, and that of the Divine, by whites, as part of the celebrations of the "Cycle of Resurrection". All these festivals represented a folklore of a typically profane religious character, mixing African and Portuguese heritages, such as dances, processions, fireworks, prayers, songs and masses. Similar to the other urban centres of Minas Gerais at that time, the parties were held with great pomp, attracting pilgrims from all over the surrounding area to the site. From the second half of the 18th century onwards, gold mining began to decline and the local economy turned to agricultural production, causing a certain retraction of urban activities. However, Santa Luzia, managed to maintain relative progress, mainly due to its privileged situation of commercial emporium, as noted by José Vieira Couto in 1801: “ (… ) Santa Luzia, a populous and bright place, and which owes its current improvement (rare thing!) to the stingrays of Minas, their mines, and to be, in addition, because of their natural situation as a small emporium, where come to arise from some genera belonging to the trade many traders of Piracatu and Serro. (… ) ”

Also Saint-Hilaire, a French traveler who passed there in 1817, stressed the importance of the Parish of Santa Luzia in its role as a commercial warehouse of the sertão, being a stopping point for the troops that transited between the sertão and Rio de Janeiro. He cited nothing about gold mining, probably due to the economic insignificance to which this activity was reduced at that time.

Prehistory The region of Rio das Velhas was already inhabited even before the arrival of the Portuguese in the gold cycle. The indigenous people lived in villages on the banks of the river, which was called Guaicuí, and its tributaries. In the municipality of Santa Luzia the proof is given by discoveries of archaeological sites, in which it was possible to find polished and chipped stone tools, traces of ceramic utensils and cave paintings.

The materials were found in the regions of the Frimisa and Chácaras Santa Inês neighborhood, the latter in the 1970s. At the time of the opening of the roads, hundreds of ceramic shards were located, proving the existence of a large prehistoric village. Most of the materials were collected by archaeologists from the Federal University of Minas Gerais.

To the north of the municipality, inside the Refuge of Wildlife of Macaúbas, a rocky shelter was found with several cave paintings in red and black colors, however it has not yet been the object of research. The presence of the human being in the municipality may be even older, because also in the 1970s it was located in the municipality of Pedro Leopoldo, 20 km from Santa Luzia, the fossil of Luzia, the oldest human fossil found in South America, with about 12,500 to 13,000 years.

Patron saint of the city It tells the story that a fisherman named Leôncio, who had vision problems, observed an object shining in the river, buried in the sand. When he caught it was the image of Santa Luzia, the saint protector of the eyes, and so the first miracle of the saint took place, since at the same time he seed again. The image was taken to the first chapel of the camp, becoming the patron saint of the municipality. Arriving in Portugal the news of the miracles that were being operated patron saint of the Bom Retiro de Santa Luzia, Sergeant Mor Joaquim Pacheco Ribeiro, who was disillusioned by the medical science of his Homeland, returns his last hope for divine power. He makes a vow to the miraculous Saint of the Minas Gerais hinterland, asking him for the lost vision. As he received the miracle, the noble son of the Lusitanian land did not hesitate to fulfill the vow he had made and comes with his daughters Ana Senhorinha, Angélica and Adriana, beginning the construction of the temple, where today is the Matrix of Santa Luzia, located on Rua Direita, in the Historic Center, on December 13, 1758. The gold used in all internal decoration construction was donated by Antônio Martins Gil and extracted in Rio das Velhas. The carve frame service was done by Felipe Vieira and Francisco de Lima Cerqueira, who filled the decorative art of Minas Gerais with glory.

Administrative training A record from 1761 that asked for the elevation of the camp to the category of village, presents as credential for this the fact that the locality presents two large churches, five more in the vicinity. By Law No. 317 of March 18, 1847 the village was the category of village with the name of Vila de Santa Luzia, having with parishes the current municipalities of Sete Lagoas, Santa Quitéria (Esmeraldas), Lagoa Santa and Matozinhos. On this date the city's anniversary is celebrated as well as in other colonial cities. In 1850 the village is extinguished and annexed again to Sabará, by Law No. 472, of May 31, 1850, which suppressed the municipality, probably because it did not comply with the requirements provided for in the law of formation of the municipality, such as, for example, construction of a chamber and jail house, within a period of three years. The restoration of the Vila de Santa Luzia is confirmed by Law No. 755 of April 30, 1856, but without the parishes of Santa Quitéria and Capella Nova. The elevation to the city is issued as early as 1858 by Law No. 860 of May 14, 1858 with the name of Santa Luzia do Rio das Velhas and from 1924, it was renamed Santa Luzia.

Imperial City From the second half of the 19th century, Santa Luzia suffered a gradual process of decline. Several factors contributed to this, the main one must have been the fall in trade between the sertão and Rio de Janeiro, resulting from the decay of mining and, consequently, the purchasing power of the population that lived from this activity. Thus, the support of Luz's economic dynamism disappeared, that is, the role of commercial warehouse of the sertão. The dynamic centre of the Province had moved to the coffee areas of the Forest and South and the areas that were not structured according to this activity, as was the case of Santa Luzia, had to reorganize and went through periods of crisis until they found relevant economic options. The municipality turned mainly to subsistence agricultural activity, producing, in 1864, corn, rice, beans, cassava, wheat, potatoes, coffee, castor bean and cotton. Its artisanal production came to acquire a certain figure at that time, with news of the manufacture of furniture, such as oratory, in addition to very delicate images of jasper stone, both of which were sold outside the Province.

Santa Luzia was visited by Richard Francis Burton in 1867, coming from Sabará by canoe, sailing the Rio das Velhas. He stayed in a hotel that he considered very precarious but cheap. It had its attention aroused by the large number of prostitution houses established in the village despite it being regarded as the seat of a sanctuary. He commented, however, that he had heard that this trade there was less prosperous than in Curvelo. He recorded the existence of the mother church and the church of N. S. do Rosário.

An extra attraction of Santa Luzia is the Convent of Macaúbas, founded by the brothers Manuel and Felix da Costa Soares in 1714. The convent, due to the prohibition of the existence of second-order works in Minas, was not exactly a convent but a house of recollection. It was only properly regulated at the end of the 18th century. The institution was also visited by Burton who noted that the construction he had visited was from 1745 and not the primitive one of 1714 whose ruins could still be seen.

There were educated illustrious daughters of Diamantina, Chica da Silva and Father Rolim. When the restless unconfident priest went to exile, his wife and children lived in a house at the entrance of the convent. Upon returning to Brazil duly pardoned, he collected them, returned to Diamantina and lived happily until he was almost ninety years old, surviving his wife and some children. The most interesting thing is that Father Rolim's wife, Quitéria Rita, was exactly Chica da Silva's daughter.

One of the most relevant events in the life of the Luziense of the nineteenth century was its participation in the Liberal Revolution of 1842 against the Imperial government, when some residents joined the rebels, commanded by Teófilo Ottoni, making their headquarters in the village itself - the Solar Teixeira da Costa, located in front of the headquarters and which still keeps the bullet marks on its windows. Santa Luzia was the scene of the final battle of this revolution, being a Wall of Stones used as a trench against the legalistic troops of the then Baron of Caxias, a monument that is currently part of its historical collection.

With the end of gold exploration, Santa Luzia became an important commercial centre, a stopping point for muleteers who came to trade and buy goods. On Rua do Comércio, in the neighborhood of Ponte, there was a port for the boats that sailed through the Rio das Velhas, transporting goods traded in Minas Gerais. Thus, Santa Luzia becomes a reference point for commerce, culture and art.

Emperor D. Pedro II, visiting Santa Luzia in 1881, stayed at Solar da Baronesa, a social and cultural reference centre of the 16th century, located on Rua Direita, in the Historic Center. The visit was recorded, by the emperor, through a drawing of a stretch of the historic centre of the city. This drawing was the historical proof that granted the municipality the title of Imperial City.

Economic growth From 1880 onwards, the Luziense economic situation found better prospects due to the construction of a fabric factory near the city. The cotton potential of the region, the local demographic growth and, consequently, the expansion of the consumer market, were favorable factors for the installation of the "São Vicente Fabric Factory" in Santa Luzia.

The international situation also contributes to the emergence of textile industries in Brazil, since, in 1860, its cotton production was expanded to export to England, replacing North American cotton, whose exports were interrupted by the Civil War. With the end of the Civil War, however, U.S. exports resumed their place, leading to a drop in national production and exports. But, it seems, the abundance of raw material at low prices in the 1970s created a favorable condition for textile manufactures in Brazil.

However, the São Vicente factory did not achieve the expected success in its first years of operation. Problems related to the driving force harmed its production, causing a serious financial crisis. In 1891, the factory was sold to Companhia Cedro e Cachoeira, owned by the Mascarenhas brothers, owners of a series of textile industries in the Rio das Velhas area. The Mascarenhas also fought to solve the problem of the driving force, only solved a few years later. Then, its production was expanded, even working with 100 looms and 150 workers. At that moment, however, the problem of the acquisition of the raw material arose with the end of the cotton boom in the region, and the factory began to acquire it in the Northeast.

The cotton from the Northeast was transported by the steamer "Saldanha Marinho", chartered by the Company to take fabrics and bring cotton, thus expanding its consumer market, traveling to Juazeiro. Navigation was done not only on the São Francisco River but also on the Velhas River, reaching Santa Luzia according to the water level. In periods of drought, the Rio das Velhas did not lend itself to navigation and transport was done by troops. This type of transport, however, was abandoned in a short time, because in 1893 the rails of the Central Railroad of Brazil reached Santa Luzia, and, soon after, Pirapora, the factory receiving and shipping goods through it, totally abandoning the precarious navigation of the Rio das Velhas.

The establishment of the "Rio das Velhas" Railway Station in Santa Luzia was of great importance to the local economy. The lower part of the city, located on the banks of the rails and the river, took new momentum with the increase in commercial activity. Retail and wholesale trade developed, the latter in charge of exports to other regions, especially cotton fabrics sold in the north of the state.

The upper part of the city was not as benefited as the lower part. It remained stagnant, without urban or commercial improvements, as reported by the Jornal do Comércio of 1897: “ (… ) badly paved, poorly lit, with streets on a slope and at certain times of the day without a living soul that transits through them, it looks like a dead city, a true necropolis… the private houses are kept closed, the commercials with a single door open and with the bosses or clerks sitting on the counters, the families looking at the street through the shutters ”

Building of the Judge Pedro Viana Forum, in the Novo Centro neighborhood

Despite the decadent picture presented by the newspaper, the lack of movement in the city, at that time, was a normal fact. It should be noted that economic activities of an urban nature were insignificant, because the majority of the population lived in rural areas, dedicating themselves to agricultural activities. The upper part of the city only had a certain development when some urban improvements were made in 1913: installation of electric light, plumbing of drinking water, electric trams communicating the centre with the neighborhood of the Railway Station, thus receiving a certain modernization that stimulated, in a way, industrial and commercial activities.

The economic development presented by the municipality, from the second half of the last century, transformed a little the physiognomy of the city, which suffered marked urban growth, but knew, however, to preserve much of its colonial memory. In the upper part of the city, the oldest and most traditional, there are monuments of great historical value adorning the tortuous and steep streets, such as the

Geography Located 18 km from Belo Horizonte, Santa Luzia is strategically located in the Metropolitan Region, close to the airports of Confins and Pampulha. It has a railway line and underground gas pipeline. Santa Luzia is the 4th Industrial pole of Greater BH and occupies the thirteenth place among the most populous cities in Minas Gerais. The municipality has three access routes with portals: via MG-020 or Avenida das Indústrias; via MG-010 and MG-433 via São Benedito and via BR-381, through Avenida Beira Rio. The portals mark the limit with Belo Horizonte and Sabará and give identity to the municipality, in addition to being part of the security system.

Metropolitan Region The intense process of conurbation currently underway in the so-called Greater BH has been creating a metropolis whose centre is in Belo Horizonte and reaches the municipalities of Contagem, Betim, Igarapé, Nova Lima, Ribeirão das Neves, Santa Luzia, Ibirité,Vespasiano and Sabará. The Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (RMBH) was created in 1973 and currently consists of 34 municipalities, being the third largest urban agglomeration in Brazil, with 4,882,997 inhabitants. Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounted in 2005 to about 62.3 billion reais, of which approximately 1.85% belonged to the municipality of Santa Luzia.

Neighborhoods and districts of Santa Luzia Sede - Parte Alta: Centro | Camelos | São Geraldo | Alto Bela Vista | Adeodato | Esplanada | Capitão Paulo | Bonanza | Vila das Mansões | Santa Monica | Jardim Santa Cruz | Moreira | Idulipê | Córrego das Calçadas | Santa Matilde | Córrego Frio | Petrópolis | Imperial | Industrial Americano | Colorado | Kennedy | Bom Jesus | Maria Adélia | Parque Nova Esperança | Recanto do Olaria | Retiro do Recreio

Sede - Parte Baixa: Ponte Grande | Ponte Pequena | São João Batista | Rio das Velhas | São Francisco | Alto do Tanque | Nossa Senhora das Graças | Novo Centro | Monte Carlo | Morada do Rio | Vila Olga | Vila Íris | Gameleira | Bicas | Santa Rita | Vale das Acácias | Dona Rosarinha | Padre Miguel | Bagaçu | Vila Ferraz | Carreira Comprida | Frimisa

São Benedito: São Benedito | Palmital | Cristina | Belo Vale | Londrina | Asteca | São Cosme | São José | Chácaras Santa Inês | Chácaras Del Rey | Chácaras Gervásio Lara | Vila Nova Esperança | Nova Conquista | Três Corações | Castanheiras | Baronesa | Luxemburgo | Duquesa I | Duquesa II | Liberdade | Pérola Negra

Zona de Expansão Urbana: Ribeirão da Mata | Barreiro do Amaral | Santa Helena | Pinhões | Casa Branca | Bom Destino | Simão da Cunha | Maquiné | Taquaraçu de Baixo | Engenho | Andrequicé

Economy Santa Luzia has an ancient economic vocation, thanks to the gold cycle, very abundant in the region. The extraction of gold made the city strengthen economically in the first 100 years. But with the end of the gold cycle the city was doomed to agriculture, but remaining stabilized as a trading post. New expectations arose with the construction of a fabric factory and the construction of the Central Railroad of Brazil. From 1950, with the government's decision to strengthen the capital Belo Horizonte, as well as the neighboring areas, mainly with industrial activity, the city had an industrial and population growth.

Frimisa after a major fire in 1955.

The construction of the largest slaughterhouse in Latin America, FRIMISA, inaugurated by Juscelino Kubitschek, where today the administrative centre of Santa Luzia is installed, brought fame and more industries. Companhia Frigoríficos Minas Gerais S.A. (Frimisa) was authorized by Law No. 833, of December 17, 1951. Its objective was the construction and operation of a network of slaughterhouses and cold stores for the industrialization of meat and derived products. The diversity of regional interests and the absence, in Minas, of a tradition of entrepreneurship through companies by shares, despite the presence of the State as the largest guarantor of the investment, were factors that hindered the rapid implementation of the company. Its regulation only occurred in April 1953, through Decree No. 3,981, and only came into effective operation in 1959. In August 1955, a violent fire broke out. After verifying the losses resulting from this accident, the slaughterhouse adopted measures that placed it as a pioneer company in prevention policies.

To attract investors in the municipality, the municipal government adopted the policy of tax incentives, such as the rate of 2% of the ISSQN. In the five industrial districts are installed several companies from various market segments. In recent years, the city's growth rate has been 13% and GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has grown by 78%. This growth is a reflection of a policy aimed at economic and social development, that is, investing in job creation, social care and preservation of the cultural identity of the municipality.

Because it is a polynucleated city, the municipality does not have a locality with the characteristic of economic centre, the activities are located in pole neighborhoods, and in the district of São Benedito is concentrated the largest commercial activity, being often confused with being the centre by people who do not know the city.

Industrial districts With the plan to strengthen Belo Horizonte, the state government, in the early fifties, created the Industrial District of Santa Luzia. In general, the objectives of its implementation and location are inserted in the same context that explains the creation of the Industrial City of Contagem. However, this District was only planned and organized internally in 1973. Its planning proposal provided for the reservation of area for the implementation of repair and maintenance workshops, for the implementation of service activities (commerce, banks), for residential use, for recreation and other uses: schools, administration, health, etc. However, this proposal was not implemented only by industrial settlements.

In Contagem, the choice was mainly due to the ease of transportation and supply of electricity, while in Santa Luzia, along with the good road conditions, the existence of sources of raw material in the region weighed heavily. However, the sizing of these two Districts was determined in an asystemic way. Proof of this is the large extension of area declared of public utility for expropriation purposes in Santa Luzia - about 21 km², much of which was considered unusable for industrial purposes, in a study commissioned by CDI-MG in 1973. This study was elaborated taking into account the area already in the public domain, the existence of industries in operation and the role to be played by Santa Luzia in the Region. The basic factors of the preliminary selection in this new study were the topography of the land, the distance to the Rio das Velhas, the flood quotas, the possibility of water supply, size, degree of urbanization, soil support and transportation facilities. In 1950, Santa Luzia represented 1.1% of the volume of regional industrial production, accounting for 1970.3% of metropolitan production in 6.

The Industrial District of Santa Luzia, consisting of 4 plots totaling about 8,700,000 m² in a strip of approximately 1,800 m on both sides of the talvegue of the Rio das Velhas located in the municipality of Santa Luzia, Northeast of the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, is delimited to the North by the Córrego do Inferno, and to the South, by highway BR-381. Even before any global plan of internal organization, the area where the Industrial Districts of Santa Luzia are located already housed some industries that settled there thanks to the favorable locational conditions of the micro-region. The availability of a planialtimetric survey of this microregion, on an appropriate scale, made it possible to select the four plots with potential for the implementation of Industrial Districts.

Considering the restrictive factors, such as maximum slope of the land, minimum size of industrial lots, possibility of flooding, existing infrastructure and geological characteristics, the four resulting potential plots were named DI-1, DI-2, DI-3 and DI-4.

DI-1 - Simão da Cunha Industrial District, Implanted in 1973, distant 11 km from the centre of Santa Luzia, with a total area of 2,844,525.00 m². It has 34 companies, mostly small and medium-sized. It is located on the left bank of the BR-381. Part of this district is located in Sabará.

DI-2 - Industrial District Desembargados Melo Junior, implemented in 1973, with an area of 2,989,353 m². The district is occupied by 15 companies, some of them large.

DI-3 - Industrial District Jorge Duprat Figueiredo, located 3 km from the historic centre of Santa Luzia was implanted in 1973. The total area is 1,288,080.00 m².

DI-4 - Carreira Comprida Industrial District was implemented in 1973, 5 km away from the historic centre of Santa Luzia next to Avenida Ângelo Teixeira da Costa in the neighborhood of Carreira Comprida, with a total area of 1,577,272.00 m². The district has 13 businesses installed.

Within the municipality there are other places where industries congregate, but they are not part of the existing industrial districts.

Health Santa Luzia had in 2009 61 health establishments, 22 of them private and 39 municipal, including hospitals, emergency rooms, health centres and dental services. The city also has about 96 beds for hospitalization in health facilities. There is a single general hospital, the Madalena Parrillo Calixto Municipal Hospital, inaugurated in 2015, in addition to the São João de Deus Hospital, which has limited activities, attending only referred hospitalizations, this being philanthropic. Santa Luzia also has 49 nursing assistants, 42 dental surgeons, 171 general practitioners, 21 general surgeons, 86 nurses, 33 pediatricians, 26 gyneco-obstetricians and 230 distributed in other categories, totaling 658 health professionals. In 2008, 2,932 live births were recorded, of which 7.8% were premature, 45.1% were cesarean deliveries and 18.3% were mothers between 10 and 19 years old (0.5% between 10 and 14 years old). The Gross Birth Rate is 12.9.

Education The HDI education factor in the municipality reached in 2000 the mark of 0.871 – a considerably high level, in accordance with the standards of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The municipality had in 2015 approximately 2,292 enrollments and 42 preschool institutions; 29,706 enrollments and 59 elementary schools; 8,673 enrollments and 25 high school institutions. The municipality also has some institutions of higher education. Some of them are the Federal Institute of Minas Gerais (IFMG), Faculdade de Santa Luzia - FACSAL; University of Northern Paraná (UNOPAR), UNINTER International University Center, among others.

Housing, services and communication In 2010, according to the IBGE, the city had 58,332 households between apartments, houses, and rooms. Of this total, 49,074 were owned properties, of which 42,350 were owned (72.6%), 6,724 were owned (11.53%) and 6,451 were rented (11.06%); 2,497 properties were transferred, 359 per employer (0.62%) and 2,138 otherwise assigned (3.67%). 310 were employed differently (0.53%). Much of the municipality has treated water, electricity, sewage, urban cleaning, fixed telephony and cellular telephony. In that year, 97.61% of the households were served by the general water supply network; 96.77% of the houses had garbage collection. In 2018 the average generation of solid waste was around 166.17 tons per day. The collected waste is sent to the CTR Macaúbas Waste Treatment Center, located in the neighboring municipality of Sabará.

The water supply is made by the Minas Gerais Sanitation Company (Copasa). The electricity supply service is provided by Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais (Cemig). In 2003 there were 50,552 consumers and 242,671,478 KWh of energy was consumed.

The municipality has three basins of sanitary sewage, with about 500 thousand meters of collection network, serving the municipality with 88% of collected sewage. There are currently six Sewage Treatment Plants (ETEs) in operation, guaranteeing about 77% of the sewage treatment collected according to Copasa. In relation to Brazil as a whole, Santa Luzia has high rates of sewage service, however the disorderly population growth has been causing the increase of clandestine sewage connections, increasing the pollution of the municipality's basins. The treated water supply system, sanitary sewage collection and all stations are operated by Copasa.

The index per direct distance dialing area (DDD) is 031. There is easy internet access in some parts of the city. Santa Luzia was chosen one of the first 100 cities that will be served by the National Broadband Program (PNBL). Santa Luzia also has some newspapers with weekly, biweekly and monthly periodicity. The municipality also has several local news portals.

Transport The transportation sector is administered by the Secretariat of Public Traffic and Transportation Safety. The Collective Bus Transport System covers approximately 20 municipal lines and about 60 metropolitan lines, operated by two different companies but belonging to the same group. The municipality is served by the Move Metropolitano rapid transit bus system, managed by the State Secretariat of Infrastructure, through the São Benedito bus integration terminal, inaugurated on September 2, 2016, located in the Cristina neighborhood, and four transshipment stations located on Brasília Avenue. Despite being served by the system, no exclusive lane or lane was intended for the service within the limits of the municipality, impairing the full operation.

In 2021, the vehicle fleet reached the mark of 91,358 vehicles. The fleet of cars had been growing at rates ranging at about 11% per year, accompanied by the motorcycle fleet, which recorded an average growth of 14.5% per year, however both sectors had stagnation in recent years, growing at a rate of only 1.12% per year for cars and 2.5% for motorcycles. Proportionally, Santa Luzia has one of the highest proportions of vehicle per inhabitant of Minas Gerais: 1 vehicle for each group of 2.4 inhabitants (in São Paulo, it is estimated one vehicle per 1.4 inhabitant and Belo Horizonte 1 vehicle per 1.06 inhabitants). While buses are usually crowded with up to a hundred passengers, cars often run empty. The use of bicycles as a means of transport is also greatly reduced due to lack of investments in educational campaigns and lack of safety for cyclists in various parts of the city, especially in the connection between the district of São Benedito and the city's headquarters. In 2022, the first bike path in the municipality was inaugurated, the Alan Bosco Ribas bike path, which connects the Frimisa neighborhood to the Linear Park of Avenida Nosso Senhor Bonfim, passing through Avenida Brasília.

The city's rail transport is still restricted to cargo on the Central Line of the former Central Railroad of Brazil, which connects the municipality to the capital of Minas Gerais and Sabará, as well as other cities located in the north of the state such as Montes Claros and Monte Azul, being granted to the Central-Atlantic Railway since 1996.

Due to the numerous inconveniences caused by road transport in the region such as heavy traffic and the insufficiency of intercity buses for a large number of users who depend on them to travel to the capital, local authorities plan to reactivate the rail transport of passengers through urban trains that would make the connection between Santa Luzia and Belo Horizonte by the Center Line of the former EFCB.

The city is served by three airports located in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte. Confins Airport (Tancredo Neves International Airport), built in the 1980s, is one of the most modern in Brazil and capable of receiving five million passengers a year with comfort and convenience. The Confins Industrial Airport has been operating since August 2006, with production focused on export. Within the limits of the municipality there is no registered aircraft airstrip, mainly due to the proximity of the airports and their areas of approach.

Traditions and Historical Heritage Being a colonial city, Santa Luzia has a historical heritage, small, but interesting. The community has also shown its effort in maintaining the old things of the glorious city, seeking to preserve them in museums installed in old mansions in the historic center. Santa Luzia is a city focused on religious tourism, as it keeps alive the popular culture through religious festivals such as: Our Lady of the Rosary, Folia de Reis and the patron saint of the city, Santa Luzia. It is part of the Royal Road circuit, but does not have sections of it within its limit. Event tourism and rural tourism have also been standing out in the municipality.

Mother Church of Santa Luzia: Erected at the top of Rua Direita, in which it is possible to see from various parts of the city, it has its interior Baroque finish, with some works cited as made by Mestre Ataíde, its exterior was totally deconfigured in the early twentieth century.

Church of Our Lady of the Rosary: Temple erected by the brotherhood of blacks in the early days of the camp. In the mid-eighteenth century it received improvements with the support of white men affiliated with the confraternity of blacks.

Chapel of Our Lord of Bonfim: Built at the confluence of the streets Direita, Floriano Peixoto and Bonfim, it has a single altarpiece dedicated to the Lord of Bonfim, whose life-size image is of rare beauty.

Solar da Baronesa: Built between the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth, to house the family of the 1st Baron of Santa Luzia, Manuel Ribeiro Viana, Lieutenant Colonel, Commander, merchant, councilman, founding shareholder of Banco do Brasil and his wife Maria Alexandrina de Almeida, great benefactors of this city. In 1881 he hosted D. Pedro II and his entourage on a trip through Minas Gerais. Inside are decorations in Rococo and Neoclassical styles and a beautiful altarpiece consecrated to Our Lady of Sorrows.

Wall of Stones: Region where it was the scene of the last battle of the Liberal Revolution of 1842, has a set of trenches made with stones from the region. It has an obelisk of homage to those who fought and gave their lives for their ideals, it also has a lookout, which despite not being at a very high top, has a range of vision, being able to see even the skyscrapers of Belo Horizonte wedged in the Serra do Curral.

Monastery of Macaúbas: Religious institution founded in 1714 by Félix da Costa, a native of Alagoas, who began the construction of the Hermitage dedicated to the devotion of Our Lady of the Conception, and a small annex building, on the banks of the Rio das Velhas. It was the 1st Women's College of the region, of great prestige protected by the Royal Act of 1789, by the Queen of Portugal D. Maria I. In 1933, the College was closed giving birth to the Monastery of Our Lady of the Conception of Macaúbas.

Solar Teixeira da Costa: One of the most beautiful mansions of the colonial period, erected in the eighteenth century by the Vicar of Luziense, Manoel Pires de Miranda. In 1842, it served as the headquarters of the brave "Luzias", rebel forces of the empire, during the Liberal Revolution. Later it was occupied by the victorious loyalist troops of the Baron of Caxias. In the mid-nineteenth century it was acquired by the Baroness of Santa Luzia functioning as "House of St. John of God". At the end of the nineteenth century it came to belong to the Teixeira da Costa family, residing in it the important Senator of the Minas Gerais Congress Manoel Teixeira da Costa. It currently belongs to the municipality, housing the "House of Culture" and the "Aurélio Dolabella Museum".

Sport Santa Luzia has several football teams, mostly amateur teams. Only in recent years the city has had two professional representatives, the União Luziense Esporte Clube and the Arsenal Atividades Desportivas Sport Club. União Luziense played in 2008 in the Campeonato Mineiro de Futebol Módulo II, Arsenal played in 2010 in the Campeonato Mineiro de Futebol da Segunda Divisão. Santa Cruz Esporte Clube is one of the oldest teams in the city and was very prestigious in the 50s and 70s and featured established players in professional teams such as Nívio Gabrich who played for Clube Atlético Mineiro.

The main stadium of the city is the Frimisa Stadium, in the Frimisa neighborhood, which has a maximum capacity of 2,400 spectators, and this is widely used for games of teams from the capital in the basic categories. The stadium was also used in 2011 for the games of Minas Locomotiva, a team from Belo Horizonte, in the Brazilian American Football League.

It is installed in Santa Luzia Training Center of the Base Category of América Futebol Clube (Minas Gerais).

The municipality has been gaining a prominence in motorsport, because it is installed in the Mega Space, the only licensed Minas Gerais racetrack, which has an asphalt track of 2,600 meters and drag track, as well as a large space for events. It has already hosted a Pick-Up Racing stage.

Another prominent name in the sport of the city is the volleyball player Fabiana Claudino, who currently plays on the Sesi-SP. website. Started in schools in the city, he quickly won a place in Minas Tenis Clube, in the capital of Minas Gerais. He won two gold medals at the Olympic Games (Beijing 2008 and London 2012), as well as two world runners-up and four Grand-Prix titles. In club, he won several Superligas, playing in teams of Minas Gerais and Rio. She is a practicing Catholic, and whenever she comes to the city she does not miss the Sanctuary of Santa Luzia.