Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Minho Highlights
Visit historic monuments, followed by dinner at a top restaurant in
Braga
(
Click here
)
Stroll the atmospheric streets of
Viana do Castelo
(
Click here
), then catch sunset on the beach
Lounge at a cafe overlooking the medieval bridge and lush countryside beyond in
Ponte de Lima
(
Click here
)
Explore the contemporary art and culture in buzzing
Guimarães
(
Click here
)
Hike the boulder-strewn peaks and gorse-clad moorlands of the
Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês
(
Click
here
)
TOP OF CHAPTER
Braga
POP 71,750 / ELEV 200M
Portugal's third-largest city is an elegant town laced with ancient narrow lanes closed to
vehicles, and strewn with plazas and a splendid array of baroque churches. The constant
chiming of bells is a reminder of Braga's age-old devotion to the spiritual world. Its reli-
gious festivals - particularly the elaborately staged Semana Santa (Holy Week) - are fam-
ous throughout Portugal. But don't come expecting piety alone: Braga's upscale old centre
is packed with lively cafes and trim boutiques, some excellent restaurants and low-key bars
catering to students from the Universidade do Minho. In fact, it's such a young city that in
2012 it was pronounced the European Youth Capital.
Just outside the city stands the magnificent, much-visited hillside church and sanctuary
of Bom Jesus do Monte.
EASTER IN BRAGA
Braga hosts the most elaborate Easter celebrations in Portugal. It kicks off with
Semana Santa
, when Gregorian
chants are piped throughout the city centre and makeshift candlelit altars light the streets at night. The action heats
up during Holy Thursday's
Procissão do Senhor Ecce Homo
, when barefoot, hooded penitents - members of
private Catholic brotherhoods (think Opus Dei) - march through the streets spinning their eerie rattles. The
Good
Friday Mass
in the cathedral is a remarkable, elaborately staged drama with silk canopies, dirgelike hymns,
dozens of priests and a weeping congregation. On Saturday evening, the
Easter Vigil Mass
begins dourly, the en-
tire cathedral in shadow, only to explode in lights and jubilation. Finally, on Sunday, the people of Braga blanket
their thresholds with flowers, inviting passing priests to enter and give their home a blessing.
