Braga and Guimarães
The rain clouds were hovering over us yesterday but as luck would have it we had an opening to explore Porto after we checked out of our hotel. We stopped at one of the many Cathedrals of Porto the church of Sao Francisco (Franciscan are my favorite).
(Portuguese: Igreja de São Francisco) is the most prominent Gothic monument in Porto, Portugal, being also noted for its outstanding Baroque inner decoration. It is located in the historic centre of the city, declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The church has an amazing history that I won’t bore you with. It was established in 1401.
Our next stop was Braga which was where I wanted to be for Easter week since it is known as one of the most prominent religious areas of Portugal.
Braga is known as the place where the Visigoths renounced the Arian and Priscillianist heresies against Christ’s divinity and against sensual pleasures. It has more than 30 churches.
They say it was Probably founded in 296 bce by Carthaginians, Braga was called Bracara Augusta by the Romans. It served as capital of the Callaici Bracarii, a Celtic tribe, and was a meeting place for five strategic military roads.
Our first stop was the Cathedral of Braga. The crypts of past priest and bishops lie in the catacombs under the cathedral. The plaques displayed on the walls are of the lists of bishops and priests that served the church, and the oldest listed was from the year 45.
Since the on and off again rain was cooperating we walked to the restaurant that serves the best known sandwich of Porto and Braga called a Francesinha. Basically it’s a heart attack maker in one lunch. It has five meats, cheese the grilled and smothered in a rich sauce. I only had a bite. Marcel was the lucky guy to eat it. The rest of us had tuna sandwiches.
The rain picked up quite a bit so we ubered back to our car with one last stop to Bom Jesus before driving to our hotel in Guimaraes.
Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga
Located on the slopes of Mount Espinho, overlooking the city of Braga in the north of Portugal, this cultural landscape evokes Christian Jerusalem, recreating a sacred mount crowned with a church. The sanctuary was developed over a period of more than 600 years, primarily in a Baroque style, and illustrates a European tradition of creating Sacri Monti (sacred mountains), promoted by the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent in the 16th century, in reaction to the Protestant Reformation.
It’s a Pasada hotel which in Portugal means it was converted into a hotel from a previous historical site. This one was once a monastery. It sits on a hillside overlooking the beautiful valley in city of Guimaraes. They think a dates back to the beginning of the Christian reconquest of Portugal and the late late night century.
We decided on bar snacks knowing that our time was short and we wanted to drive back to Braga for the procession from the cathedral for Good Friday. We were leaving the weather up to fate since it was torrential down pouring since we checked in. Again, we were blessed with the window and took advantage, and we checked back to Braga, about a 30 minute drive, and were able to watch the amazing procession.
If the rain stops this morning, we plan to tour the castle and other historical sites Guimaraes before heading to Nazare for the next couple days. Unfortunately it is still raining and there are severe wave threats for Nazare with waves up to 16 feet which Paige is very excited to see. I seem to be having a lot of problems, uploading photos with the Wi-Fi here, but if I can figure it out, I will be posting photos of those giant waves. Until then..
