From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Historic Centre of Guimarães*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Aerial sight of the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza (From IPPAR)
State Party	Portugal
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv
Reference	1031
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	2001  (25th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Guimarães is a city in Guimarães Municipality.

In the 9th century, Vímara Peres was able to expel the Moors and founded a fortified town under his own name Vimaranis (of Vimar) which later became Guimaranis, present day Guimarães. The city is often referred to as the "birthplace of the Portuguese nationality" and also was the birthplace of Afonso I of Portugal, the first Portuguese king.

The seat of the municipality is Guimarães city, that is made of 16 parishes and, as of 2001, has a population of 52,181^[1] inhabitants. The totality of the municipality has a population of 161,876 inhabitants in 241.3 km².

Guimarães is ranked number 2 in the Portuguese most livable cities survey of living conditions published yearly by the Portuguese newspaper Expresso.^[2]

History

The city was founded upon much older settlements by Count Vímara Peres after his namesake (Vimaranis, later Guimaranis), soon after he established the 1st County of Portugal (in 868). As the first capital of Portugal, Guimarães is known as the place where the country was born – "The Cradle City". In 1095 Count Henry of Burgundy, who had married princess Teresa of León, establishes in Guimarães the 2nd County of Portugal (Condado Portucalense). In July 25, 1109 Afonso Henriques, son of Count Henry of Burgundy, is born in this same city. That is where Duke Afonso Henriques proclaimed Portuguese independence from the Kingdom of León, after the Battle of São Mamede, declaring himself to be Afonso I, king of Portugal.

Culture and Sports

The Historic Centre of Guimarães was declared a World Heritage Site in 2001 by UNESCO, due to its Middle Age historical monuments.

The Campus of Azurém of the Minho University is located in Guimarães.

Vitória SC (also known as Vitória de Guimarães) is the most renowned sports club based in Guimarães. Moreirense FC is another club based in the municipality of Guimarães.

Guimarães was chosen by the Portuguese government to be the European Capital of Culture in 2012, since Portugal and Slovenia have scheduled for 2012 the right of having one city as European Capital of Culture. So Guimarães and Maribor will be ECC in 2012.

References

1. ^ UMA POPULAÇÃO QUE SE URBANIZA, Uma avaliação recente – Cidades, 2004 Nuno Pires Soares, Instituto Geográfico Português (Geographic Institute of Portugal)
2. ^ Classificação Expresso das melhores cidades portuguesas para viver em 2007, Expresso

World Heritage Sites in Portugal Alto Douro Wine Region · Historic Centre of Angra do Heroísmo, Azores · Batalha Monastery · Convent of Christ, Tomar · Cultural Landscape of Sintra · Historic Centre of Évora · Historic Centre of Guimarães · Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture, Azores · Laurisilva of Madeira · Alcobaça Monastery · Monastery of the Hieronymites and Belém Tower, Lisbon · Historic Centre of Porto · Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley

From Wikitravel

Guimarães Castle, from the X century

Guimarães is a city in Minho, Portugal and is one of the most historical cities in Portugal, said to be where "Portugal was born". It is the first city of Portugal, and have a beautiful Castle, and a Palace to visit, from the beginnings of the country. The Castle has been classified as one of the New Portuguese Seven Wonders. The first King (D. Afonso Henriques aka D. Afonso, I of Portugal) is still being idolized by the city. Placed about 50 km from Porto, Guimarães is placed near to a mountain, Penha, with wonderful views to all the city.

Guimarães will be the European Capital of Culture 2012, a great honor to this city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Guimarães Train Station

Guimarães Highway indication

The easy way to go to Guimarães by plane is to fly to Porto/Sa Carneiro/Pedras Rubras,Maia. Oporto international airport(OPO), and then catch a train or a bus to Guimarães. It's about one hour from Oporto to Guimarães, by bus, and almost one hour and a half by train.

There are very low cost airlines flying to Oporto, the ones that fly from more places are Ryanair and EasyJet. Also, coming from Paris, Transavia, or, coming from Barcelona Clickair. Certainly, more low cost airlines are flying to Oporto, but the other ones have fewer trips per day.

Once you get in airport Sá Carneiro, you have to catch the Metro, and go to Campanhã Station or São Bento Station to get a train, or, if you want to go by Bus, you have two places that you can go: Trindade Bus Station or Batalha Square Bus Gare.

By train

It's the cheapest and the best way to arrive in Guimarães. The Portuguese company CP is the one that provides travel by train. If you come from Lisbon you have some, but few, direct travels to Guimarães. It's about four hours. From Oporto, you have a train every hour.

If you come by train from Europe, on InterRail, for example, you have always to go to Oporto first, and then you catch the train to Guimarães. This trip can give you the best attractions. One is the cheapest price, and the other is the wonderful views, passing over some small rivers, and small villages, in rural Portugal.

By car

You have a lot of highways going to Guimarães, from Braga, Porto, Felgueiras, Chaves, and others. If you are coming from the south of Portugal there is no difficulty at all. The Portuguese highways are all very well connected, and you only have to go straight to Oporto, and then in Oporto you catch A7 (Highway 7) which goes to Guimarães. It's quite easy.

By bus

Rede Expressos, a national bus company, and is the best way to get to Guimarães. With this company you can travel from almost every (big) city in Portugal (i.e. Lisbon, Oporto, Coimbra).

If you are traveling by cities near to Guimarães, like Braga, for example, or even Oporto, you always have to ask to people (a very common thing in Portugal) where you can get a bus to Guimarães (you can try this in the cities within about 50km). You may make a lot of stops during the trip, but it's a way to better get to know the North.

City View from Penha

In Guimarães, you have a bus that let you do a travel through the city centre. But, as you don't have a big city centre, probably, you will prefer to walk by foot, and enjoy the harmony of this medieval city. If you usually purchase a long time ticket in other cities, to travel, here you may not afford it. But, if you want to travel by bus, the tickets price are about 1,25€.

To go to Penha Mountain the best solution is getting the Elevators - "Teleférico da Penha" - and climb up. If you prefer to have a walk through the mountain it's very safe, and you have nice roads to go up, but it will take about 30 minutes.

Renting a car can be a very nice solution, because, in a small city there is not many traffic jams, and if you want to stay in a place "far" from the centre, it can be a wonderful transport. It's not so expensive to rent a car. But, if you want to feel the city, you can make longer trips, because the city centre has a lot of small medieval streets, that you can only enjoy walking.

Praça da oliveira(Oilve Square)

Dukes of Braganza Palace, by Portuguese_eyes

Palace in bottom of the image, and the mountain (church) in the top

• Guimarães Castle, located in the very centre of the city, this castle have been constructed in the X Century, ordered by Mumadona Dias, with the purpose to defend the city from the Muslims. The first name of the Castle was "São Mamede Castle", name given by Mumadona. The first king, Afonso Henriques, lived in this Castle, and started conquering Portugal from the Muslims from this place. Very well kept, the castle is of the greatest historical symbols in Portugal. It has been classified by UNESCO, as World Heritage.

• Dukes of Braganza Palace (in Portuguese - Paço dos Duques de Bragança) was probably built between 1420 and 1422, for Afonso, Count of Barcelos - bastard son of king John I of Portugal and future Duke of Bragança. Today, the Palace of the dukes is classified as a National Monument - 1910 - and has in its structure, a museum and the main façade in the 2nd floor is destined to the Official Residence for the Presidency of the Republic.

• Penha Mountain, is the only mountain in Guimarães, when you can have a wonderful view over the city. You can go there through an elevator, where you can taste a little more of the mountain spirit, and at the same time get different views of the city.

• Largo da Oliveira (Olive Square), one of the most beautiful places in the city, where you can really feel the ancient times. It's a good place to sit, and have a drink, and look at old construction and typical houses. Here you have Igreja da Oliveira (Olive Church) and the Padrão do Salado(in the photo, at Praça da Oliveira).

• Casa de Sezim (Sezim Manor), located in Nespereira (about 5 km away from the city centre), this old manor has astonishing saloons decorated with hand painted wallpaper from 19th century from the french painter Roquemont. Casa de Sezim became the ancestral home of the present family in 1376. The original vellum documents still exist and record that Maria Mendes Serrazinha gave Casa de Sezim to Afonso Martins a descendant of D. João de Freitas a companion of D. Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal. The document states that Casa de Sezim was given to Afonso Martins in recognition of " As boas graças que dele recebeu e espera receber e por crença que lhe fez", the good works received from him and hope to receive and for his trusting belief. The beauty of Casa de Sezim is not only in its harmonious lines or the impressive façade of its majestic entrance, as within its walls hang early XIX century panoramic wallpapers, scenes from both of the new and old world, of sufficient rarity to have become a motive of international curiosity in recent years. You can enjoy the gardens and the property, as well as taste the famous wine (Vinho Verde).The surroundings are attractive for the hiking and mountain biking. You can also sleep there on request, in a charming and historical place, where romance is sparkling everywhere. [1]

Drink

An escapade to Largo da Oliveira is always the best choice, it recalls you some places in Spain with lots of lovely cafes.

• Hotel Ibis Guimarães, Avenida Conde Margaride 12 Creixomil, ☎ (+351)253 424 900, [2].  edit

• CASA DE SEZIM, Nespereira, GUIMARÃES, ☎ (+351) 253 523 000 (geral@sezim.pt), [3]. .  edit

• Braga
• Amarante.