EsproMinho is located in Braga!
Braga is the main city and capital of the Minho region. Braga has always been an important centre for culture, commerce and religion. The Romans dedicated it to their Emperor and called it Bracara Augusta, making it their Galician head-quarters in 216 BC.
In the 12th century, it became the seat of Portugal’s archbishops, and the country’s religious capital.
Braga is a large city with much to see: the magnificent Sé Cathedral which was begun in the 12th century, making it one of the oldest in southern Europe.
The star attraction of Braga is the religious sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte, located high on a forested slope 6 km east of the city. At the top of a great pilgrims’ stairway stands an impressive church from where visitors can enjoy spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. An old funicular provides an alternative method and in many ways more appealing of reaching the top. Bom Jesus do Monte was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.
Close to Braga you have the amazing city of Porto. The gracious capital of the north of Portugal’s second-largest city and a thriving industrial hub, successfully blending commercial efficiency with an atmosphere of unpretentious charm.
Without doubt one of Europe’s most astonishing cityscapes, Porto’s old quarter, with its thick flagstones and delicately-moulded façades, is attracting a fast-growing number of culture-hungry tourists.
Today, this gracious capital of the north is Portugal’s second-largest city and a thriving industrial hub, successfully blending commercial efficiency with an atmosphere of unpretentious charm.
UNESCO was so impressed with its patrimonial importance that it classified this part of downtown Porto as a World Heritage Site since in 1996, stating that the city’s ‘historic centre, built along the hillsides overlooking the mouth of the River Douro, forms an exceptional urban landscape with a thousand-year history’.
Nearby, the magnificent stock exchange building known as the Palácio da Bolsa is also worth seeing for its grand neo-classical façade and exquisite Arab Hall, a fine imitation of the great hall of the Alhambra in neighbouring Spain.
Raise a glass to them when visiting the Porto win lodges on the south side of the River Douro, many of which are centuries old and bear some of the most famous names in wine-making, such as Taylor’s, Grahams, Cockburns , Croft and Sandeman.
Meanwhile, we are close the beautiful beach of Esposende (20 kms of Braga) and also very close the spanish and amazing province of Galiza in Spain.
