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BRAGANÇA |
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Trás-os-Montes - literally meaning "behind the mountains" - is a
province tucked away into Portugal's most inland, northeast corner.
Until the country's admission into the European Union in 1992, this
glacial tabletop of granite boulders and rural communities was one of
the most isolated pockets of the Continent. On a hillock above BRAGANÇA
, the small and remote capital, stands a pristine circle of walls,
enclosing a medieval village that rises to a massive keep and castle.
Seemingly untouched by the centuries, this extraordinary Citadel - along
with the fine local museum - is the principal reason for a visit to the
town. The twelfth-century council chamber, the Domus Municipalis ,
stands in the heart of the citadel; very few Romanesque civic buildings
have survived anywhere in Europe, and no other has this pentagonal form.
Next to it is the church of Santa Maria , with its eighteenth-century
barrel-vaulted, painted ceiling - a feature common to several churches
in Bragança. Towering above these two is the Castle , which the
Portuguese royal family rejected as a residence in favour of their vast
estate in the Alentejo. At its side a curious pillory rises from the
back of a prehistoric granite pig, or porca , thought to have been a
fertility idol of a prehistoric cult. Celtic-inspired medieval
tombstones rub shoulders with a menagerie of porcas in the gardens of
Museu do Abade de Baçal , between the citadel and cathedral in Rua
Abílio Beça (Tues-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-6pm; ¬1.25, free on Sun).
Inside, a collection of sacred art and the watercolours of Alberto Souza
are the highlights, along with displays of local costumes.
The tourist office (July-Sept Mon-Fri 9am-12.30pm & 2-7pm; Oct-June Mon-Fri
9am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; tel 273 381 273, www.bragancanet.pt ) is on an
extension of Avda. Cidade de Zamora, a couple of hundred metres north of
the cathedral. The cheapest pension in town is the Hospedaria Brigantina
, next to the post office on Rua Almirante Reis (tel 273 324 321;
£5-10/$8-16/¬9-18); you'd be better advised to pay a little more and
stay at Residencial Poças , Rua Combatentes da G. Guerra 200 (tel 073
331 428; £5-10/$8-16/¬9-18). The nearest campsite (tel 273 351 535;
May-Oct) is 6km out of town on the França road; a better option is the
plush, private site (tel 073 999 371; open all year) 8km down the
Vinhais road, with good facilities and a pool. As for restaurants , two
favourites are Restaurante Poças , next to the Residencial , serving big
wholesome meals, and Restaurante D Fernando , Cidadela 197, inside the
walled old town, which is surprisingly good value.
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