“Porto works, Braga prays, Coimbra studies, and Lisbon gets the money.”
…so goes the saying in Portugal about these major cities… and first impressions tell me that these generalizations are correct.
A few days prior to our visit to Braga was Easter, which is a big day in Braga. The city has dozens and dozens of churches, and it’s home to the oldest archdiocese in the country, so every year, people make a sort of pilgrimage to the city for Holy Week. When we arrived, the banners were still left up as remnants of the celebration, but the streets were very quiet.
Most of our sightseeing that day was simply walking through the streets, though we also went inside a handful of churches… and there were lots. We didn’t, however, go see Bom Jesus do Monte, which is a super famous pilgrimage site in nearby Nogueiró e Tenões. It looked lovely, but it was a bit of a trek and we didn’t necessarily have the time. Even so, there were plenty of beautiful and ornate churches in Braga and I loved taking in the architecture and decor.
