Known as the "Birthplace of Portugal" or "The Cradle City",

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 ...

played a crucial role in the foundation of the oldest nation state in the world, serving as its first capital and the site of the

Battle of São Mamede The Battle of São Mamede (, ) took place on 24 June 1128 near Guimarães and is considered the seminal event for the foundation of the Kingdom of Portugal and the battle that ensured Portugal's independence. Portuguese forces led by Afonso He ...

in 1128, where Portugal secured its independence from the

Kingdom of Galicia The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. In the early 10th century, the Kingdom of Galicia was formed following the div ...

. It received its

Foral 200px, Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal The ''Carta de Foral'', or simply ''Foral'', was a royal document in Portugal and its former empire, whose purpose was to establish a ''concelho'' (Council) and regulate its administration, borders and priv ...

around 1096, the first one ever, by Count Henry, father of the first king Portugal,

Afonso Henriques Dom Afonso IOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' ( Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on the Spanish or French influence ...

, who's said to have been born in Guimarães. This historical significance has contributed to its architectural heritage, spanning from the pre-medieval period to contemporary times. The city's historic center is designated as a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

since 2001, being further expanded in 2023 to also include the Couros Zone, increasing the area of protected buildings significantly. Its eleven centuries of contiguous habitation allowed a wide range of buildings, from gothic fortifications like the

Castle of Guimarães The Castle of Guimarães () is the principal medieval castle in the concelho, municipality Guimarães, in the Norte Region, Portugal, northern region of Portugal. It was built under the orders of Mumadona Dias in the 10th century to defend the mo ...

and the city's medieval walls, to Baroque palaces, religious institutions, medieval noble houses and

quintas Luís Fernando Quintas dos Santos, known as Quintas (born 12 April 1965) is a former Portuguese football player. Club career He made his Primeira Liga debut for Beira-Mar on 21 August 1998 in a game against Braga. Honours ;Beira-Mar *Taça de ...

, and other contemporary constructions. Many of these structures are either protected as national monuments or properties of public and municipal interest, or registered in the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage via SIPA or IGESPAR.

Buildings

Historic landmarks

Most important and iconic historical landmarks of Guimarães, from distinct time periods, that had a big impact on the history of the city and of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Residential buildings

List of notable buildings initially intended for residential use, mostly casas (houses) or

of rich and noble families.

Service buildings

List with notable buildings whose function is based on providing services to the people, such as

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

Theatres Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communica ...

Factories A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

and others.

Religious

Guimarães is deeply involved in

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

culture, after more than a millennium of its influence in the region. This means that there is a wide variety of religious buildings from many different centuries throughout the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Sport

Sports in Guimarães are largely influenced by

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, popularly known as Vitória de Guimarães or sometimes just Vitória, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football, at the Est ...

, with Moreirense F.C. also holding a significant position. Below is a compilation of notable sports-related venues and locations in Guimarães.

Demolished buildings

Notable buildings in Guimarães that were

demolished 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, which involves taking a building apa ...

Structures

Bridges

Guimarães has many bridges, spanning from the Roman era to modern times, that help the crossing through the

Ave River Ave River (, ) is a river in Northern Portugal. It has its source in the Cabreira Mountain (Serra da Cabreira) in the Minho Region. In its course passes through the cities of Guimarães, Vizela, Santo Tirso, Trofa and Vila do Conde. The Vize ...

and its

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

Monuments

Guimarães has a vast amount of monuments, including

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

s, calvaries and

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

References

{{Guimarães Architecture in Portugal