Braga, today the third largest city in Portugal, is over 2000 years old and was already known to the Romans. During the Migration Period, Braga was the most important city of the Suebi, a tribal group of Germanic peoples. Later, the Moors took control on several occasions.
Over the years, many churches have been built in Braga, and the city describes itself as the religious capital of Portugal. Braga was awarded the title of City of Media Arts by UNESCO.
We take the train from Porto to Braga and walk a short distance to the Palacete Cunha Reis. In the 18th century, it was considered the most important building on the outskirts of Braga.
Music by Johannes Kayser
Diagonally opposite is the Arco da Porta Nova, a triumphal arch that was the western entrance to the city. Traditionally, it was used to symbolically hand over the keys to the city to leading personalities. The arch was given its baroque appearance in 1773.
Braga Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in Portugal and one of the country’s most important cultural buildings. It was built on the foundations of a Roman temple, surrounded by a series of small churches and chapels. This time, however, we only enter the cloister and a few side rooms, but not the nave, with the two significant organs on display. However, we would later see a similar organ in Coimbra.
Instead, we continue towards the center of Braga to Largo Carlos Amarante. On the square, there is an oversized sign with the name of the city and a fountain in the center, the Fonte Seiscentista.
The churches Igreja de Sta. Cruz and Igreja de São Marcos are also worth a visit. The latter is integrated into a former hospital.
In the R. de São Marcos, we pass the Casa dos Crivos, a former residential building and one of the last buildings with a wooden lattice façade from the late Renaissance.
From Praça da República some major streets branch off in a star shape, such as Av. Central and Av. da Liberdade.
The Theatro Circo and the Palácio do Raio are also in this spacious, leafy street. The palace was commissioned by João Duarte de Faria, a knight of the Order of Christ, and was built in the late Baroque style.
Bom Jesus do Monte is a pilgrimage church on the outskirts of Braga. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019.
We take a bus to the valley station of a funicular railway with a water compensation system. Put into operation in 1882, it has run accident-free ever since. The cable car carriages have large water tanks underneath the floor, filled at the top station and emptied again at the valley station. The weight of the water pushes the downhill carriage down the hill, while it pulls the other carriage, which is connected by a cable, up the hill.
From the platform on the mountain, you have a gorgeous all-round view of the city.
At the end of the excursion, however, we make a mistake. We take the funicular down into the valley and want to photograph the magnificent staircase leading to the church from there on foot. Once there, we realize that the ascent to this staircase is much higher than we thought. Due to time constraints, this is no longer possible as we also want to visit Guimarães that day. It would have been better to walk down the stairs, designed as a pilgrimage route, and not take the funicular.
Photo gallery of our visit to Braga
Text, photos and video: Copyright © myVideoMedia