Tips 1 - 10 of 11 Guimarães Things to Do
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Things To Do: Palace
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The palace is an interesting building to visit. During the winter period it is opened until 5pm and on Sundays it may be visited free of charge until 2pm (entrance fee is 3 euros per adult). Inside, no photos are allowed, only on the cloisters and chapel.
Inside the palace you may visit several rooms decorated with furniture and other objects (paintings, tapestry and china) from the 17th and 18th centuries, some of them notoriously influenced by the overseas conquests.
There are balconies/cloisters both on the lower level and the upper level. On the case of the upper level, there is chapel accessible through the balcony. I found it beautiful as it is mainly build with wood inside – benches, altarpiece and the walls are also covered in wood. The stained glass above the altarpiece is beautiful.
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Things To Do: Igreja de S. Miguel
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This small chapel is situated half way between the palace and the castle. It is said that D. Afonso Henriques was baptized here, although it isn’t a proved fact. Along the years this chapel was the target of robbery and was later on abandoned.
In recent years it was recovered and opened to public. When inside there is nothing else to see but the walls and the floor – there is a restricted area that you cannot walk across where there are visible some sculpted stones. They believe these are the tombs of warriors that were buried inside this chapel, as was a custom a long time ago. Some also say that before leaving to fight battles the warriors came to this church to pray and to be blessed.
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Things To Do: Castle
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The castle is opened for visits everyday until 5pm (winter period) and it is free of charge. You may walk “freely” inside and go up the stairs and walk on the walls. The view is awesome, but you should be careful that the path, even though it is large, is not protected on the inner side.
Inside the castle there is the tower, to which you cross through a wooden bridge built between the castle walls and the tower door. You may go inside the tower (entrance fee of 1.5 euro) and go up the stairs all the way to the top. I believe that the view should be breathtaking, but I didn’t go up as I visited the castle near the closing time and I had no time to go up. When I approached the tower the keeper was already closing the door and advising people that the castle would close in 15m time.
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Things To Do: Historic centre - Unesco
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The historic centre is classified by Unesco as World Heritage site. This comprises the Praça de Santiago, a most important square on the city’s history, as well as street D. Maria (which connects the castle and palace with the city centre and the mentioned square). Also, the square of Toural is included on the classified zone.
Along the streets and squares of city historic centre you may admire medieval houses and some other manor houses and palaces, some of them extremely well-kept.
You should reserve some time for strolling around the city, as it is truly worth it. I can never get enough of the narrow streets and medieval houses of Guimarães. At night city is also very pleasant and illuminated, and if visiting during the weekend you will surely come across lots of locals during their evening walk.
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Things To Do: Praça de Santiago
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Tradition says that an image of virgin Mary was brought to the city by apostle S. Tiago, whom placed the image in a pagan temple situated on this square – from then on the square is named Santiago, after the apostle.
This square is characterized by its medieval style, which pleases me a lot - its small houses with wooden balconies are most pleasant.
Nowadays, there are a few cafes around with tables on the open air, making it a nice place for a drink.
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Things To Do: Praça do Toural
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Praça do Toural is a beautiful square with distinctive houses and buildings and also the church of S. Pedro.
The square itself is very nice as it has trees, flowerbeds and benches surrounding a huge fountain – called the artistic fountain. But what struck me the most about the square was the pleasant design of the floor made in “calçada”, a typical Portuguese tradition – small blocks of white and dark stone composed in a design (see photo).
Nowadays this square is considered as the “heart” of the city, even though it was outside the city’s walls in the 17th century and it was, back then, the spot where the kettle market took place.
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Things To Do: Former Town Hall
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This building is situated in-between square of Oliveira and square of Santiago, both major references in the city.
The building is very nice and dates back to the 14th century. It went through major refurbishments on the 17th century by architect João Lopes de Amorim.
The Museu de Arte Primitiva Moderna (Museum of Modern Primitive Art) is situated inside this building and it’s characterized by the naïf paintings it exhibits. Notice that the building is opened for visits only on week-days.
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Things To Do: Igreja de N. Sra. da Oliveira
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This beautiful church is situated on the square with same name – Praça da Oliveira – and it is quite impressive seen from the outside. We didn’t visit inside as there was a wedding going on and we didn’t want to disturb.
There is a convent with same name “attached” to the church. Both were founded by Portugal’s first king – D. Afonso Henriques – and later refurbished in late 14th century by king D. João I as a celebration of the victory on the battle of Aljubarrota. The tower seen on the left is manueline style and was added in 1515.
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Things To Do: Padrão do Salado
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This gothic style piece was built in 1340 to celebrate a victory on the battle with same name (Salado).
There is a cross inside and it is related to the legend that named this square (Praça da Oliveira). The cross was offered to the city by merchant Pedro Esteves in 1342. To learn about the olive tree legend (Oliveira in Portuguese) read my local customs tip, please.
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Things To Do: Igreja de S. Pedro
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This nice church is situated on the square of Toural, the so-called “heart” of Guimarães.
This church went through several phases as it wasn’t built all at once and it still isn’t finished. It all started in 1737 when it was ordered the construction of a plain and simple church by the houses of brotherhood of S. Pedro. In 1881 it was decided to finish the church and the houses of the brotherhood were demolished so that there was enough room for the Basilica. The construction works ended in the beginning of the 20th century but the church is not finished yet.
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» Ask about Guimarães |
 Comments for micas_pt about Guimarães | | | | |
HORSCHECK Tue Jun 30, 2009 22:36 UTC
Micas, can you believe that I spent one night here last May and I really loved the city. I have seen most of the sights you mention here and Guimaraes will probably be the next page I will build. | arlequin_g Fri Jun 22, 2007 19:28 UTC
Hi. Great page. I'll be visiting this lovely place next week. Thanks for the tips. | Bwana_Brown Mon Feb 21, 2005 16:39 UTC
Alex, I don't know how I missed this page for so long! Great tips and photos of Guimaraes! I would love to be strolling those streets or enjoying a quiet sit down under the trees in the Square! | ncfg Tue Feb 8, 2005 22:46 UTC
Great pics and tips about the birthplace of Portugal . Guimaraes is very beautiful, it is a town that i know very well. |
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