The Castle of Guimarães, symbol of the founding of Portugal, built in the 10th century on a granite promontory
The Paço dos Duques de Bragança, a 15th-century palace with Burgundian-influenced architecture and a collection of tapestries and armour
The Collegiate Church of Nossa Senhora da Oliveira, at the heart of the historic quarter, with a medieval cloister housing the Museu Alberto Sampaio
A Penha, a granite hill to the east of the city, accessible by cable car, with a sanctuary and views over the Minho
about the place
Guimarães is located in the northwest of Portugal, in the District of Braga, at the foot of the Serra de Santa Catarina. The city is recognised as the birthplace of Portuguese nationhood: it was here that D. Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, was born, and here that the earliest foundations of the country's identity were established. Its historic centre, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001, preserves a medieval urban fabric that has endured through the centuries with rare integrity.
