The Toural Square (), commonly referred as just Toural, is the most important

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

and place of gathering on the Portuguese city of

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

. It began in the 17th century as a place to sell

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

s (Touro in Portuguese),

oxen An ox (: oxen), also known as a bullock (in BrE, British, AusE, Australian, and IndE, Indian English), is a large bovine, trained and used as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castration, castrated adult male cattle, because castration i ...

and other goods. Unlike the rest of the city,

pigeons Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

aren’t commonly found in the Toural, but

swallows The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The t ...

are.

History

Considered the heart of the city nowadays, in the 17th century it was a square outside the main gate of the city, where cattle fairs and other fairs selling various products were held. In the 18th century, at the behest of

Queen Maria I '' Dona'' Maria I (Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana; 17 December 1734 – 20 March 1816) also known as Maria the Pious in Portugal and Maria the Mad in Brazil, was Queen of Portugal from 24 February 1777 until her de ...

, the old medieval wall was demolished (all that is left of that section is the Alfândega Tower but other parts of the wall are still standing) and houses following the Pombaline style were built on that site. In 1791, the Town Hall granted the land next to the wall for the construction of buildings, which were later built according to a new type of plan that had possibly come from

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

following the 1755 earthquake, thus determining the beginning of the slow transformation of the Toural. In the second half of the century, a public garden was built, surrounded by

iron railing An iron railing is a fence made of iron. This may either be wrought iron, which is ductile and durable and may be hammered into elaborate shapes when hot, or the cheaper cast iron, which is of low ductility and quite brittle. Cast iron can also ...

and stone walls, which opened in 1878. Bombeiros Vimaranenses cerca em 1908

Urban furniture was created for this space in keeping with the new iron architecture: a

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamen ...

, urinal, benches and lamps. With the establishment of the Republic, the public garden was destroyed and transferred to another location, and a statue of King Afonso Henriques was put in its place, the centre of the Toural, that is now refurbished. A few years later it was moved to Parque do Castelo (Castle's Park) and replaced by a beautiful artistic fountain. It underwent changes between 2010 and 2012 that were very controversial amongst the inhabitants of

St. Peter's Basilica

On the west side of Largo do Toural stands the St. Peter's Basilica. This church has a simple and elementary architecture of neoclassical style. In 1750 it was blessed and housed the image of its

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

. In 1751, by

indult In Catholic canon law, an indult is a permission or privilege, granted by the competent church authority – the Holy See or the diocesan bishop, as the case may be – for an exception from a particular norm of church law in an individual case ...

of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, the church was given the title of

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...

. It was the first church to receive this honour in the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Braga The Archdiocese of Braga () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It is known for its use of the Rite of Braga, a use of the liturgy distinct from the Roman Rite and other Latin liturgical ...

. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

is separated from the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

by a round-arched crossing arch and the

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

stands out in its blue and gold carving, still a manifestation of the eclectic taste of the late 19th century. In 1881 it underwent remodelling work, with the

demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

of the temporary structures and the houses that stood in front of the body of the church. The work ended at the beginning of the 20th century, with only one of the two planned towers actually being built.

Other Points of Interest

The Toural Square includes many

Points of Interest A point of interest (POI) is a specific point location that someone may find useful or interesting. An example is a point on the Earth representing the location of the Eiffel Tower, or a point on Mars representing the location of its highest ...

these might include: *Da Vinci Building *Milenário Café *Alfândega Tower *Toural fountain *

Fidalgo ''Fidalgo'' (, ), from Galician and Portuguese —equivalent to a nobleman, but sometimes literally translated into English as "nobleman" —is a traditional title of Portuguese nobility and Brazilian nobility that refers to a member of the ...

do Toural's House *Martins Sarmento Society Building

References

{{Guimarães Squares in Guimarães

History

St. Peter's Basilica

Other Points of Interest

See also

References