24 hours in the birthplace of Portugal - city of Guimarães

Hi Steemians!

Today I would like to share with you a little of my past weekend, spent in the city of Guimarães (approximately 53km far from the city of Porto).
Guimarães is a benchmark in the History of Portugal! Despite it is not one of the greatest cities of the country, it was in this city that Portugal was born... I mean, the Portuguese County! This city has a very rich culture and it has a historic centre very well preserved, World Heritage of UNESCO.

We arrived on Saturday evening, under a grey sky and some showers... But it did not stop us from dropping the luggage at the hotel and leave by foot -> direction city centre.
Looking for a restaurant which could give us a cosy environment and delightful dinner, we found the TASCA NICOLINO... and we could not have found a better one! We ate the traditional roasted codfish with potatoes and greens... wonderful!... with the voice of the Fado singer Mariza in the background :)

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at Tasca Nicolino

The historic centre is full of bars, which are full of people from the spring on. Most of them are part of historic buildings, so each bar is worthy of contemplation! We chose the O Tecto de Mercúrio which means, The Mercury Ceiling, to have a drink after dinner.

O Tecto de Mercúrio, bar

The day after the sun was back! That was excellent, so we could walk through the historic centre and see the building's architecture at the daylight. The city is super clean and cared.

A visit to the Guimarães Castle is mandatory! The Castle, one of the seven Portuguese wonders, is intimately linked to the foundation of the Portuguese County and the combats for the independence of Portugal. I was positively surprised for the works recently carried out at the Castle, namely the construction of wooden walkways to ease walking on the ruins. In addition to that, it was also constructed an interpretation centre of history of Portugal, inside the castle tower. Portuguese citizens can visit the castle for free until 2 pm.

Right besides is the Palace of the Dukes, constructed in the XV century, after D. Afonso. Inside it is possible to see furniture items, dishes and swords from that time. The entrance in this monument is also for free on Sundays and Holidays, until 2pm, for Portuguese citizens.

houses in the historic centre

narrow streets in the historic centre

The afternoon was spent visiting the Senhora da Penha Sanctuary, is lays right on top of the Penha hill. One can get there by car or cable car (5€/px, go and return). We chose the second option to enjoy a walk with privileged views :)
The straight lines of the sanctuary reveal the "Art Deco" style typical of its decade of construction, the 30s. Around the sanctuary there is a rich natural world to discover: crannies between the rocks, viewpoints, picnic tables, other smaller chapels ...

I'll let you some photographs of the Castle, Palace of the Dukes and Senhora da Penha Sanctuary. Hope you enjoy it!

With love,

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the castel