Originally, Bragança was a Celtic city known as Brigantia; it later became the Juliobriga of the Romans. Historically, the city is important as the seat of the house of Bragança, which provided the kings of Portugal from 1640 to 1910 and the emperors of Brazil from 1822 to 1889; their feudal castle (built 1187) still remains. Catherine of Bragança became the queen consort (1662) of Charles II of England. Bragança, an episcopal see, was the capital of the historical Trás-os-Montes province. Notable landmarks in the city include the 12th-century Domus Municipalis (Portugal’s oldest and largest town hall), the Renaissance cathedral, and the town walls, with 18 watchtowers. The possessions of the house of Bragança belong to the Portuguese state and support the Fundaçao da Casa de Bragança, a foundation with a library, a museum, and a lecture centre in the 16th-century residence of the Bragança family in Vila Viçosa.
Aerial view of Bragança´s historical city center
Aerial view of the medieval castle, inside walls
This was the space, for Bragança´s council meetings during medieval epoque
Santa Maria church, north east of Portugal. Build in the 13th Cntury, inside the medieval city walls
Aerial view over Bragança city center, and it´s Market plaza
The fortified system, built in the 13th century, was extensively remodeled in the early 15th century, adapted and expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries and partly rebuilt in the second quarter of the 20th century. Although it is incomplete and s...
We are on the Citadel or Village, a walled enclosure that was once part of a wider wall, it is the oldest urban center in Bragança. It is likely that, in a town so close to the border, a defensive line was built in this place, still in the reign o...
Although much has been written about its purpose, there is no consensus among scholars. It served as a water cistern, but there are doubts as to whether this was its original function. The name because it is known today (in Latin "Domus Municipali...
Without documentary evidence, the building can date back to the early days of the borough (nothing of its original design was detected). In the middle of the 13th century, we know this from the Aphonsine inquiries - the parish of Sta. Maria, most ...
Without documentary evidence, the building can date back to the early days of the borough (nothing of its original design was detected). In the middle of the 13th century, we know this from the Aphonsine inquiries - the parish of Sta. Maria, most ...
Without documentary evidence, the building can date back to the early days of the borough (nothing of its original design was detected). In the middle of the 13th century, we know this from the Aphonsine inquiries - the parish of Sta. Maria, most ...
We are in the vertical of the old market square, whose partial facade has remained in remembrance of the old building of the municipal market. aerial view
Historic center, São Vicente Church, aerial view and interpretation of the main landmarks in the city of Bragança. Historic center, São Vicente Church, aerial view and interpretation of the main landmarks in the city of Bragança
Old Cathedral. Building built on land belonging to the Benedictine Monastery of Castro de Avelãs and destined to the convent of Claras nuns, it would eventually be handed over to the priests of the Companhia de Jesus in 1562, where, in attached fa...
In the middle of the century. XIII the parish of S. Vicente is already mentioned. Due to the characteristics of the headboard, the primitive temple in the Romanesque style has been framed. It seems to be the desire, often manifested, to age the or...
