Portugal - Guimarães Day Trip

Another town that is easily reachable by train from Porto is Guimarães. Guimarães claims to be the birthplace of Portugal for two reasons. Afonso Henriques (Afonso I), the first King of Portugal, was born here. And in 1128, on a battlefield not far from town, Afonso Henriques won an important battle securing the independence of the kingdom of Portugal. The town motto is translated "Here Portugal was born".

As one would expect, Guimarães retains a lot of its medieval charm. The maze of twisting narrow streets in the city center seems like something out of a history book. One of the oldest streets is the Rua de Santa Maria, which has been in existence since, oh, around the 7th century.

One of the most popular attractions in town is the Paço dos Duques de Bragança (Palace of the Dukes of Braganza). It was built in the 1400's and eventually fell into ruin.

In the 1930's with money and support from the Salazar regime the palace was somewhat controversially "restored", probably in a grander style than it originally had when built. Now it is a museum with lavishly furnished rooms, like this banquet hall.

Up the hill from the palace is a small chapel, the Igreja de São Miguel do Castelo, where Afonso Henriques is supposed to have been baptized.

And just behind the chapel is the impressive Castelo de Guimarães. Inappropriately, my mind immediately conjured up scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 

We weren't able to walk inside the central tower/keep, although I think usually it is open to the public. But we were able to walk all along the ramparts and imagine what it must have been like in the Middle Ages to rain arrows, rocks, and cows down on your enemies. "Fetchez la vache!" Just kidding about the cows, probably. Here is Kevin threatening to taunt me a second time.

The old town has a series of squares and plazas (called "largos" or "praças") where you can take your pick of restaurants for lunch or a coffee. This is the Largo da Oliveira. The red building on the right with the arches and statue is the old town hall. Note that the town looks empty because we chose to go there on a Tuesday morning. In November. During a pandemic. But, yes, there were other people around, and the squares got more animated by lunchtime.

We had lunch just through those arches on the other side of the town hall, in the Praça de São Tiago. Kevin has a traditional Portuguese cod dish (bacalhau) and I managed to order myself some not-so-traditional "mystery fish filets". But at least the wine (vinho verde) was good. Saúde!