Braga, in northern Portugal, is considered the most religious city in the country, the "Portuguese Rome", for its wealth of churches and convents and because it is the seat of Portugal's oldest archdiocese. With about 195,000 people in its municipality it is also a young and dynamic city, home to a major university. The old town is full of elegant Baroque monuments, gardens and squares.
A little history
In the Iron Age the area was inhabited by the Bracari, a Celtic people. Around 16 BC the Romans founded Bracara Augusta here, which became an important administrative centre and capital of the province of Gallaecia. In the fifth and sixth centuries it was the capital of the kingdom of the Suebi and one of the first bishoprics in the Iberian peninsula. After the Visigoths and the Moorish conquest, the city declined until it was retaken by the Christian kings in the eleventh century. Ever since, the archbishop of Braga has played a leading role in the country's history.
Bom Jesus do Monte and Sameiro
Braga's most famous monument is about 6 kilometres from the centre, on the hill above the city: the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte, a UNESCO site since 2019. A monumental zigzag Baroque stairway, with more than 570 steps, climbs past chapels with the Stations of the Cross, fountains and allegorical statues of the five senses and the three virtues, up to the late eighteenth-century neoclassical church surrounded by woods and gardens. If you prefer not to walk, take the funicular of 1882, powered by a water counterweight, the oldest of its kind still in service.
A little higher up is the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora do Sameiro, one of Portugal's most important Marian shrines, with a grand stairway and a sweeping view.
The cathedral and the old town
The Sé de Braga, the cathedral, was begun at the end of the eleventh century and is the oldest in the country: it keeps its Romanesque portal, Gothic and Manueline chapels, two gilded Baroque organs and the Treasury Museum of precious sacred art. The Kings' Chapel holds the tombs of Henry of Burgundy and Teresa of León, the parents of Afonso Henriques.
In the heart of the city are the large Praça da República, with historic cafés and a fountain, and the fourteenth-century Torre de Menagem, a remnant of the old fortifications. The Paço Episcopal, the former archbishop's palace with parts from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, now houses the public library, and beside it lies the flower-filled Santa Bárbara garden. Among the churches, the early sixteenth-century Manueline Capela dos Coimbras and the Baroque Church of Santa Cruz stand out.
Baroque palaces and Roman remains
Braga has some of Portugal's finest Baroque palaces, many designed by the architect André Soares in the eighteenth century: the Palácio do Raio, with its Rococo facade covered in blue azulejos, and the city hall. The Palácio dos Biscainhos, a seventeenth-century aristocratic residence with terraced gardens, houses a museum recreating noble life of the period.
From the Roman city remain the Fonte do Ídolo, a first-century sacred spring carved into the rock, the remains of the Roman baths and the D. Diogo de Sousa Museum, the archaeological museum.
Festivals and tips
Braga is famous for its Holy Week, with solemn processions, illuminated streets and decorated churches, considered the most important in the country. In June the city celebrates São João with music, dancing, performances and traditional festivities. Braga is linked to Porto by regional trains (about an hour) and combines easily with nearby Guimarães, the cradle of Portugal, and with Peneda-Gerês National Park.