Mariana is the oldest city in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is a tourist city, founded on July 16, 1696, and retains the characteristics of a baroque city, with its churches, buildings and museums. It was the first capital of Minas Gerais.
Other historical cities in Minas Gerais are Ouro Preto, São João del-Rei, Diamantina, Tiradentes, Congonhas and Sabará.
It has an area of 1,194.208 square kilometres.
The municipality contains a very small part of the 31,270 hectares of Serra do Gandarela National Park, created in 2014.
In 2015, it suffered a major dam disaster.