2. The northern town of Guimarães is one of Portugal’s oldest urban
settlements and one of the country’s best preserved. Its medieval
centre and historic buildings have been listed by UNESCO as
World Heritage in 2001.
The first King of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, chose this former
Roman city to be the administrative capital of the kingdom after
his victory at the Battle of São Mamede, in 1128.. That’s why
Guimarães is known as the birthplace of the nation.
3. Guimaráes shows the
evolution of the
Portuguese building
techniques from the 15th
to the 19th centuries.
The historic centre is a
maze of alleys around
Toural Square and Largo
da Oliveira, the medieval
town square.
Other references are the
Castle, the Ducal Palace
and the Museum.
Santa Maria is the main
street in the pedestrian
old centre.
4. The Town Hall is at present located in the baroque building of the old
Santa Clara Convent. (16th century).
8. This is the civic square,
the most busy meeting
point for after work and
celebration days.
The Toural Square has
been renovated for the
2012 Cultural Capital
event.
9. The rich variety of windows glowing in the late hours of
sunlight is a local must see.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17. A nearby back street,
passing under first floor
corridors, leads to the
next square.
21. This is a pretty and quiet place, where trees and azulejo ( blue
tiles) façades compose a quaint but colourful atmosphere.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26. In this square, most of
the houses were built
in the 18th and 19th,
centuries.
Iron balconies and tile
-covered façades are
a sign of the Romantic
period.
37. This gothic porch was built
in 1342 to celebrate the
battle of Salado won by a
coalition of Portuguese and
Spanish armies against the
occupying Muslims.
38.
39. The Romanic Church and
Abbey Nossa Senhora da
Oliveira (Our Lady of the
Olive Tree).
The Legend:
An olive tree. planted in
front of the church to
supply olive oil for the
altar lamps, withered and
died. Later on, a local
tradesman placed a
cross on the site and the
tree miraculously sprung
to life !
40.
41. A detail of the false porch
over the front doorway
46. The National Museum Alberto Sampaio displays religious art and
silverware as well as traditional handicraft and pannels of Portuguese
azulejos. It’s housed in buildings which were part of the Priory..
47. A pannel of blue and
yellow painted azulejos
from the 17th century.
48. The old quarter
It’s a maze of winding streets and
alleys around Largo da Oliveira,
flanked by three- or four-stored
half timbered houses, some with
colorful balconies, and now and
then larger baroque buildings.
49. The narrow and shady Egas Moniz street, former Rua Nova (New
Street), has been renovated under an European funded project.
50. This house in Rua
Nova, from the 17th
century, has won a
prize for its careful
restoration.
78. South of the Toural and the
historic centre, a residential
area of narrow and steep
alleys, leading down to the
river Couros valley, displays
a variety of renovated
façades, some covered with
azulejo tiles.
79. It’s a most intimate and secret part of Guimarães.
80.
81.
82.
83. The Youth Hostel
is installed in this
excellent building
on the lowest part
of Guimarães, by
the Couros river.
85. This Museum is a private foundation and was created after careful
excavations in archeologic sites of the celtic era, some miles North
of Guimarães. It is also housed in parts of a previous St. Dominic
Convent from the 14th century.
86. The remaining gothic cloister of the St. Dominic convent is a
magic place, one of the best hidden secrets of Guimarães.
87. The cloister’s columns have richly decorated capitals,
figuring fauna, flora and humans. There are no two alike.
88.
89. Two warriors of the
pre-national celtic
tribes that occupied
the northwest of the
Peninsula.
90.
91.
92. A bronze Phalera from an
archeological site nearby. Ribbed blue bowl, from a
site in southern Portugal
94. Maybe the most spectacular object in the Museum – this celtic
toy, a bronze car representing a sacrifice rite and dedicated to
a war deity, dates from around 500-300 BC.
104. The impressive square keep of the Guimarães castle dominates
the skyline for miles around.
105. This castle was built in the
10th century to protect the
town against invaders and
was expanded in the 12th
century as an arsenal and
palace.
The first King of Portugal
may have been born here,
but anyway the castle is
linked to the Foundation of
Portugal.
109. Medieval, 1420-1422.
Built by the first Duke of Bragança, this manor house contains
Renaissance furniture, Flemish tapestries and Persian carpets.
116. It’s origin is as old as the 9th
century, but the Monastery’s
present buildings date back
from the 11th to the 18th
cent., undergoing several
renovation and enlarging
works.
The church is clearly in late
baroque style, some parts
are neo-classical.