Brazil's bubbles of well-being: for over a century, famed mineral waters have fueled local pride and the economies of several small towns in Minas Gerais.

• Author: Holston, Mark
• Position: Caxambu

In the town of Caxambu, the day begins not with a mad dash to the workplace but with a splash, literally. Like many of his neighbors in this restful city of twenty-five thousand, Sebastiao Rocha's first stop after leaving home in the morning is a water fountain in the center of town. However, it's no ordinary water spigot and no run-of-the-mill plaza setting. In Caxambu, water is much more than just something used to make soup, quench the thirst of house plants, or take a shower. The water that springs from the ground in this mountainous region of the state of Minas Gerais has become the cornerstone of the region's economy and the root of local lore. Indeed, the world-class mineral water that flows from pristine aquifers through the dozen ornate fonts of a regally appointed park put the town on the map over a century ago and continues to sustain its economy and self-image to this day.

"It's good for the kidney," Rocha explains, tapping his midsection with his right hand while his left arm holds a shopping basket packed with well-used plastic bottles filled to the brim with the crystalline elixir he and countless other Brazilians believe is essential to their daily health. For Rocha, a well-entrenched ritual is a visit to Fonte Viotti to capture a day's supply of sparkling mineral water. The fountain is named in honor of Dr. Polycarpo Rodriguez Viotti, a much-revered town father and physician who championed the value of mineral water and helped establish the town's Parque das Aguas in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

However, it wasn't the good doctor or any other of a long list of local notables who worked on behalf of exploiting and promoting the town's greatest natural asset who played the most important role in making Caxambu a household name in Brazil. Rather, it was the visit of a young princess from the country's royal court, in search of a cure for her infertility, who conveyed to the once-isolated community the aura of fame and good fortune it enjoys to this day.

It was 1868, and four years into her marriage to Luiz Felipe Gastao de Orleans, Conde d'Eu, that Princess Isabel and an entourage, including her husband and a court doctor, made the arduous overland trip to Caxambu, drawn by accounts of the town's potent, iron-rich mineral waters and hopes that a cure for her infertility could be at hand. The royals stayed for a month, and the day by day report of the princess's activities has long been an important cornerstone of the town's history.

Once with child, the princess showed her gratitude by funding the construction of the Santa Isabel de Hungria Church, a landmark edifice that looms over the city's urban center and the nearby water park.

When he visited Caxambu to observe the one-hundredth anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Brazil, Princess Isabel's great grandson, Dora Luiz de Orleans e Braganca, joked, "I'm thankful to the world for the waters of Caxambu."

Today, it's more than pretenders to Brazil's throne who are grateful for the waters of Caxambu and several other nearby towns known for their distinctive varieties of mineral water. It's difficult to encounter a middle-class Brazilian who hasn't spent at least a long weekend in this idyllic region, enjoying the cool mountain air, the postcard-perfect rural landscape, and sampling its sparkling natural wares.

Although he's lived in the U.S. for the last three decades, the mere mention of Caxambu brings a rush of vivid memories to Grammy-winning composer, arranger, and guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves. A native of Rio, the musician recalls the day in the early 1950s when an uncle asked his mother if the boy could accompany him on a trip to the spa town. Castro-Neves was about thirteen years old at the time. "I'm looking at it now in my mind," he laughs, recalling an experience long since forgotten, "and one of the things I see is a spring with sulfur water. People...