Braga is a small town in the north of Portugal, which is famous for one of the oldest cathedrals in the country and the nearby Bom Jesus do Monte sanctuary with monumental stairs leading to the church standing on the hill.
Braga was founded in Roman times as Bracar Augustus and was one of the first centers of Christianity on the Iberian Peninsula. The first cathedral was built here in the 3rd century, and today's building dates from the 12th century and competes with the Lisbon Se for being the oldest in the country. During the peak of its heyday, Braga even competed for the title of the most important religious center in this part of the Iberian Peninsula with the Spanish Santiago de Compostella. To this day, the city is famous for the solemn celebrations of Holy Week and indulgence in honor of St. Jan connected with the street fiesta. An important place of religious worship is also the nearby sanctuary of the Baby Jesus. The Manueline style church is located on a hill with a magnificent view of the surrounding area.
The center of Braga is a tangle of narrow streets with tenement houses with Renaissance and Baroque facades. A characteristic point of this area is the medieval tower, the only remnant of the royal castle in Braga. Near the cathedral there is the Archbishop's Palace surrounded by a picturesque garden, while the streets hide another mainly Manueline and Baroque churches, whose interiors are largely decorated with azulejos.
A little further from the center you can see the Raio Palace standing in the extensive garden, whose walls are covered with azulejos and the ruins of Roman term from the 1st century AD
