Braga

How long to stay?

Worth a rest day. You can see the old town and the cathedral on the afternoon you arrive, but the sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte lies outside the city in Tenões, and you won't want to climb its 583-step staircase with a pack and tired legs. For many, Braga is also a turning point: if you come on the Caminho Leon de Rosmithal or from Porto, a new section begins here, and the next stage to Ponte de Lima is long. A day without your pack will do you good.

Braga in Ninja numbers

• 260 kilometres lie behind you if you arrive on the Caminho Leon de Rosmithal from the Douro at the Spanish border. This is where it ends.
• 61.4 kilometres is the distance from Porto on the Porto–Braga route: two to three days for anyone who starts the Portuguese Way with a detour via Portugal's church capital.
• 191.9 kilometres still lie ahead of you to Santiago de Compostela, on the Camino Torres to Ponte de Lima and then on the Camino Portugués Central.
• 583 steps lead about 116 metres up the staircase to Bom Jesus do Monte. On the way down you may take a funicular that has run on water since 1882.
• 8 days is how long King Afonso V hosted the Bohemian pilgrim Jaroslav Lev of Rožmitál and his retinue here in 1466.

Arriving: three routes into one city

No fewer than three Ways of St James lead to Braga. From Porto you enter the city from the south via Lomar; the last stage from Vila Nova de Famalicão is 23.8 kilometres. On the Camino Torres you come from Guimarães, 21.1 kilometres away. And the Caminho Leon de Rosmithal comes in from Póvoa de Lanhoso via Gualtar, 16.2 kilometres. According to Visit Braga it passes through Tenões at the foot of Bom Jesus on the way. All three routes meet in the old town at the cathedral, the Sé, and that is exactly where the way north begins the next morning.

In brief: older than the destination

Braga was already a bishop's seat in the 3rd century. After the turmoil of the early Middle Ages, Bishop Pedro rebuilt the diocese and consecrated the cathedral on 28 August 1089. It is Portugal's first cathedral and older than the country itself, because at the time the region still belonged to the Kingdom of León. In 1107 Braga became an archdiocese. In a chapel of the Sé lie Count Henry and Teresa, the parents of the first Portuguese king.

Braga and Santiago share an old rivalry. Diego Gelmírez, the ambitious bishop of Santiago, had the relics of Saints Fructuosus, Cucufas, Silvester and Susanna taken from the archdiocese of Braga to Santiago, a theft that a publication of the Xunta de Galicia still calls "latrocinio", robbery. The bones of Fructuosus are said to have returned in 1966. So when you arrive here, you are standing in the city that once had to help Santiago on its rise.

Through the old town and up to Bom Jesus: what to see

The Sé stands in the very centre; the sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte lies outside the city in Tenões.

• The Sé: The cathedral was consecrated in 1089 and building went on until around the middle of the 13th century. In the Capela dos Reis lie Count Henry and Teresa, and in the nave there is a bronze tomb of the Infante Afonso, a son of King João I. The two gilded organs date from 1737 and 1738. For pilgrims, the Sé is the place where three routes end or carry on; the stage pilgrimage of the municipality of Póvoa de Lanhoso on the Caminho Leon de Rosmithal also ends here with a Mass. We have not found reliable opening hours or admission prices.
• The cathedral treasury: The cathedral museum has existed since 1930 and shows, among other things, the Manueline chalice of Archbishop Diogo de Sousa, the chalice of Saint Geraldo from the 10th century and an Arabic ivory casket from the 11th century. If you want to understand how powerful Braga was while Santiago was still on the rise, this is the place.
• Bom Jesus do Monte: The sanctuary has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019. A staircase of 583 steps climbs about 116 metres up the slope, zigzagging through sections dedicated to the five senses and the three virtues of faith, hope and charity, each with its own fountain. At the top stands the church that Carlos Amarante built from 1784 to 1834. It is a pilgrimage in miniature: if you like, walk it step by step as a penitential way. The funicular of 1882 was the first on the Iberian Peninsula and is still operated with water ballast today.

Honestly

• One hostel for three routes. The municipal pilgrim hostel has 40 places. If pilgrims from Porto, the Camino Torres and the Caminho Leon de Rosmithal arrive on the same evening, it can get tight; the youth hostel is the fallback.
• Bom Jesus is not on the way. It is an outing to a suburb, not a stop on the way through. Plan it for your rest day, not for the evening after a stage.
• The next stage is long. It is 36.1 kilometres to Ponte de Lima with 481 metres of ascent. If you don't want to do it in one go, you will have to find a room along the way.
• Our hostel data is not fresh. The details on places, price and opening hours come from an older source. Call ahead.

Where pilgrims sleep

• Albergue de Peregrinos Casa da Roda: the municipal pilgrim hostel at Rua de São João 3, right in the old town. 40 places, €5, open from 10:00 to 22:00 according to an older source; phone +351 253 215 165. Bring your credencial.
• HI Braga – Pousada de Juventude: the youth hostel at Rua de Santa Margarida 6, with 58 beds according to the same source, dorm beds from €10.
• Private hostels: Braga has several private hostels with dormitories, which you can find in the app. We have not found a donation-based hostel in Braga.

Ninja tips

• Walk up the stairs, ride down. The 583 steps to Bom Jesus are meant to be walked; the water-ballast funicular brings you back.
• Plan the stage to Ponte de Lima early. At 36.1 kilometres it is one of the longest on the route; set off at dawn or split it.
• Get your stamp at the hostel. For many, Braga is the first stamp on a new route, wherever they come from.
• Ask at the Turismo for news about the Caminho Leon de Rosmithal. The city is one of the twelve municipalities of the route.

Practical tips for pilgrims

• Turismo Braga: phone +351 253 262 550, email turismo@cm-braga.pt.
• Credencial: In the hostels you identify yourself as a pilgrim with your credencial.
• Connecting routes: The Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros starts here and follows the Roman Geira road to Santiago.
• Getting there and away: Braga has a railway station with trains to Porto.

Onward: to Ponte de Lima

On the Camino Torres you leave Braga to the north-west, past Palmeira and through Merelim and Prado, then via Moure and São Miguel de Carreiras uphill to the highest point of the stage near Portela do Meio (267 metres, kilometre 19.0 from Braga), and down via Goães and Queijada to Ponte de Lima. Altogether that is 36.1 kilometres, 481 metres up and 646 down. In Ponte de Lima you join the Camino Portugués Central, and from there it is another 155.8 kilometres to Santiago. Alternatively, the Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros starts in Braga.

What awaits you tomorrow

Ponte de Lima is said to be the oldest chartered town in Portugal and lies at a long bridge over the Lima. There the Camino Torres flows into the Camino Portugués Central, and all of a sudden you are no longer alone: from Ponte de Lima you share the way with pilgrims from Porto, Lisbon and Barcelos.

Deep dive: The city that is older than its destination

A short read, in case you want to learn more about Braga. About three minutes' reading.

A bishop before the apostle

When the apostle's tomb was found in Galicia in the ninth century, Braga was already an old bishop's seat. The Romans had founded Bracara Augusta here, and there had been a bishop since the third century. Then came troubled times, and the diocese had to be rebuilt. Bishop Pedro began this around the year 1071, and on 28 August 1089 he consecrated the new cathedral to the Virgin Mary. It is Portugal's first cathedral, older than the kingdom itself. In 1107 Braga became an archdiocese, and Count Henry and Teresa, the parents of the first king, chose to be buried in its cathedral.

A theft out of piety

Santiago grew quickly in those years, and one man drove it forward: Diego Gelmírez, bishop and later the first archbishop of Santiago. A pilgrim destination needed relics, and Gelmírez fetched them wherever he found them. From the archdiocese of Braga he had the bones of Saints Fructuosus, Cucufas, Silvester and Susanna brought to Santiago. His reason was that they were not being venerated worthily in Braga. A publication of the Xunta de Galicia still simply calls it robbery. The relics of Fructuosus, it is said, only returned to Braga in 1966.

A guest from Bohemia

Almost four hundred years after the cathedral was consecrated, an unusual embassy rode into the city. Jaroslav Lev of Rožmitál, brother-in-law of the King of Bohemia, was on his way to the apostle's tomb with about forty companions and fifty-two horses. He came from Trás-os-Montes, via Freixo de Espada à Cinta and Lanhoso. In Braga, King Afonso the Fifth received him, had the guests hosted for eight days and gave the baron two horses. Then they moved on via Ponte de Lima and Valença to Tui. Today the Caminho Leon de Rosmithal follows their tracks and ends in Braga.

What Braga gives you

Braga is a city where you sense that pilgrim routes have not only destinations but also origins. Faith was at home here before Santiago became the goal, and here people have welcomed pilgrims, quarrelled and been reconciled over the centuries. When you set off from the Sé the next morning, you are not only walking towards Santiago. You also take with you a piece of something that is older than the destination.