We had company in our hometown! It’s admittedly difficult for people to just drop in, but thanks to a work thing that Lisa’s sister had in Lisbon, we got to play tour guides for her. One small problem – we know very little about our hometown. As John says, we’ve been on more tours of Pompeii than we have of Braga. It’s got nothing to do with disdain for our adopted home; it’s 100% laziness. In any case, rather than try and fake it we just joined our visitor as eager tourists and got down to the business of exploring the City of Bishops. Did you know Braga as an inhabited site is about 2000 years old? Now we all do. Also, the Cathedral (Sé) was built about 70 years before Portugal (the country) was formed. The oldest cafe in Braga was founded in 1796, making it just 20 years younger than America.
Things are OLD around here, y’all.
If you come to visit, let me highly recommend Minho Free Walking Tours! Our guide, Jose, is a local with an engaging and VERY informative manner. We began, as one should, at the entrance to the old city which is ironically the last/youngest gate they ever built – the Arco da Porto Nova. We then spent a pleasant if slightly wet two hours wandering the environs, learning so much about the history of our old city.
The Cathedral of Braga was the first Portuguese cathedral. Building began at the end of the 11th century; it was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary on August 28, 1089. D. Henrique and D. Teresa, parents of the first king of Portugal, are buried in the Chapel of Kings. Also called the Santa Maria de Braga Cathedral, artistic relics of its more than nine centuries of history are preserved within. Its style is a combination of many period: Romanesque, Gothic, and (most obviously) Baroque. And bonus – the high heeled boots of a 4′ tall bishop of antiquity are on display. We’re sure that’s how he wanted to be remembered.
A truly fascinating piece is this Latin inscription honoring the Temple of Isis that was on this site before the Sé de Braga was built.
The environs of the Sé are just as interesting, with a highlight being the Chafariz do Castelo (Castle Fountain), dating back to the year 1723. Despite its name, the Fountain is not in, or part of a Castle. Instead, it gets its name from the unique design of its six spouts, each of which resembles a castle. (No, you can’t see that in the picture. It was dusk and many of the photos we took are blurry from a lack of light.) What you can see are the classic putti figures. Puttis are cherubs, here shown holding up the spouts.
The tour includes a look at the only easily found nod to the Moors, who briefly held the city in the mid-700s and definitively lost control in 1040. (Yes, 300 years is seen as brief in a city as old as this one.) This exterior facade allowed for the inhabitants to look out and yet not be seen and also cooled the interior without keeping it dark. (It is a reconstruction.) The Moors held large swaths of Portugal down through the years, but seeing their influence this far North is still unusual. We finished up at the central fountain that has figured in to so many of our Braga memories, starting from darn near the very beginning. As a small sign of how far we’ve come as residents, John parked our rental car right near this spot, correctly deducing that it was a likely ending place for the tour. Go go gadget natives!
All in all, we had an excellent look at our lovely, fascinating city and can now walk around with our heads less drooped in shame.
