Braga and Guimaraes Tour from Oporto

Minho is an area of great historical wealth, with medieval villages,castles and traditional monasteries, most of them classified as national monuments, it was in this province that the first king of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques.

He was born more precisely in Guimaraes, in the 12th century, he had extended his kingdom to the south, one of the greatest victories of the Christian reconquest of European territory.

We begin touring the first capital of Portugal by exploring the hill where a statue of D. Afonso Henriques (first king of Portugal), the Guimaraes Castle, followed by São Miguel Church and Paço dos Duques de Bragança (Bragança´s House Palace).

Exploring the old medieval streets that were left to tell the tale and history, ending in the the squares reign, like Sao Tiago, Toural and Oliveira, last but not least we take a little time to taste the delicious Santa Clara’s Pastry.

One of the most important medieval cities, with its historical center classified as World Heritage by UNESCO in 2001.

Now its time to visit Braga, a modern city but full of rich roman and medieval past. Commencing in the Cathedral (Monument from the eleventh century), one of the main attractions is the cross used in the first mass service in Brazil, also see the majestic pipe organs.

We will visit the high pulpit and the mortuary chapels that hold the tombs of some of Braga´s most notorious archbishops and also the graves of our first king´s parents (D. Henrique e Dona Teresa).

The Bom Jesus Elevator is the only water powered elevator in use, its construction is due to a nineteenth-century Bracaran businessman, built by two well-known engineers of the time, Nikolaus Riggenbach and Raul Mesnier.

A water tank that fills in the upper plane and empties in the lower one. The amount of water is in function of the existing passengers. At the time of departure the driver of the lower cabin informs the superior by a sound signal the number of passengers in that cabin.
Then the driver of the upper cabin will fill the tank with a quantity of water according to the signal received from the lower and according to the number of passengers in that cabin.

The weight of the water together with the weight of the passengers then makes this cabin down and up the opposite. Each cabin also has a brake to adjust the tempo and to slow down and stop before reaching the stops at the end of the course

The Sanctuary is composed of a staircase, which represents the Via Sacra do Bom Jesus and that goes up to the church. The architectural complex also includes the Bom Jesus Park (a forest area), and some hotels.

Surrounded by a lush forest it´s construction is of the XVIII and XIX centuries, crossing the baroque, rococo and neoclassical styles. Composed of the chapels of the Via Sacra and the Church, a monumental alley and staircase punctuated by statues and symbolic sources, this model had wide repercussions in Portugal and Brazil.

The sanctuary of Bom Jesus served as inspiration for numerous constructions around the world such as the Bom Jesus de Congonhas, in Congonhas, Brazil, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies in Lamego, among others.

The city of Braga was born and grew up around its Cathedral even today we can observe the influences of the most varied times in its walls and facades and in its predominantly baroque interior, the main entrance and the side entrance make the locals use the cathedral to cut their way through their busy routines and give the Catedral an unusual, almost familiar charm that shows the grandeur of this space.

It is much more than a religious or tourist spot. It is part of the life of the bracarenses ( Braga resident nick name´s ).

The Cathedral continues to be a great symbol of Braga surprising those who enter, its ceilings, the organs of pipes, the altar so special with a frontal built from a piece that was left of an old altarpiece, ordered to be made by D. Diogo de Sousa to build the main chapel .

Or other place within the city