"Braganca" a Bragança Travel Page by haiamisa

We had left Trancoso on the morning of the 20th of September and reached Braganca in the afternoon. We drove on N102, IP2, and IP4 and the roads were good all the way long. We passed Rio Douro and the views to the valley were spectacular. The problem was that we were tired and we both missed home. So the drive was quiet, we both were in our thoughts and we didn't take must pictures. Our feet hurt from all the walking we had done by then and we didn't even go to see the castle in Braganca, but we did see it from our room in Recidencial S. Roque and also while having breakfast in the breakfast room. We only rested, went to eat in a restaurant and walked a bit in the center. We sure needed the rest and the following day we felt much better and our enthusiasm was back when we continued to Braga via Chaves and Vieira do Minho. Braganca was the most northern place where we stayed and it is a good place to stay at, being a big town in north. It is different from the towns in south, maybe because of its geographical location and being the passway to Spain.

The castle and it's medieval walls with a white medieval village within is one of the most memorable sights in Portugal, seemingly untouched by the centuries, with a hamlet whose size is wonderfully at odds with the royal connotations of the town's dynastic name. The Bragancans were the last line of Portuguese Monarchs, ruling from 1640, when they replaced the Spaniards, until the fall of the monarchy in 1910. To the British, the name is most readily associated with Catherine, queen to Charles II, who, according to legend, introduced the concept of afternoon tea to Britain. For the Portuguese, however, the town represents the defence of the liberty of the people, because the Bragancans were the first to muster a popular revolt against Junot in 1808, and have always defended their power to make their own decisions.
Looking out ove the furtherest walls of the castle you'll see the Parque Natural de Montesinho stretching to Spain. One group who made the most of this isolation were the JEWS, who escaped over the border in the sixteeth century from the terrors of the Inquisition in Spain. Despite the common rule by Spaniards over the two countries during this period, the Inquisition in Portugal was relatively inefficient - administered in municipalities, the organization spread slowly northwards with ever-decreasing zeal. The Jewish community has left its mark in the names of the local families and in the town's cuisine (notably the alheira sausage), but the once-thriving synagogue is no more.