Guimarães, Portugal

Guimarães
Registered Sector: 
Historic Centre of Guimarães
Location and site: 
Guimarães is located in the Minho region, on the north-west of Portugal. It is surrounded by mountains of which the highest is the Mountain of Santa Catarina (Penha). The city is crossed by the River Ave that passes by a long valley where several industries, connected to cutelery, textile and shoe manufacture, have settled.
Historical Function: 
Religious and Political
Administrative Status: 
First capital of Portugal
Historical Reference: 
  • Guimarães becomes de first Portuguese Capital and the Cradle of the Nation.
  • In the year 1128 - more precisely on the 24th June 1128 - took place the battle of S. Mamede, of which Campo de S. Mamede, near the Castle of Guimarães, was one of its stages. This battle opposed D. Afonso Henriques to D. Teresa (his mother) and the Count of Trava from Galiza. The first defended the independence of the County of Portucalem in opposition to his mother forces. The battle was won by D. Afonso Henriques and the beginning of the Portuguese nation was settled.
  • In the 11th century the Count D. Henrique de Borgonha and his wife, D. Teresa, daughter of the King of Leão, came to live in the County Portucalem. In 1111 they had a child, D. Afonso Henriques, who would later become the First King of Portugal.
  • In the 10th century, in 949, by order of Mumadona Dias (who was a relative of Leão Royal Family) the Monastery of monks and nuns of Santa Maria, São Salvador and all the Saints was built in her estate of Vimaranes - now Guimarães. In 986 she ordered the construction of a Castle to insure the safety of the population.
Urban Morphology: 
The town of Guimarães developed itself around two dynamic centres: the castle and the convent of Mumadona, which walled sites were only joined on the 14th century. The historic centre of Guimarães was built on a hill surrounded by two banks. It preserves its medieval characteristics in what concerns the design of the narrow and sinuous streets, the typology of the narrow and long lots, and also the building techniques. During the centuries some squares were built and their shapes reflect the time of their construction. The majority of the buildings are of "chã" architecture with their ground floors in stone (granite) and the floors made of "taipa". But there are also examples of erudite architecture that can be seen in churches, convents and manner houses of which the most relevant, by its dimension and singularity, is the Palace of the Dukes of Bragança, built in the 14th century and restored in the middle of the last century. Outside the walls, in the designated surrounding protected area, there are beautiful gardens of classic designs. Near the Castle and the Palace of the Dukes of Bragança there is a leisure park built during the reconstruction of these two monuments.
Registration Criteria: 
Historic Centre of Guimarães (C ii, iii, iv) The historic town of Guimarães is associated with the creation of the Portuguese national identity in the twelfth century. It is an exceptionally well-preserved and authentic example of the evolution of a medieval settlement into a modern township. The town's rich building typology represents the specifically Portuguese development from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, consistently using traditional building materials and techniques.