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Braga
*** Shopping-Tip: Braga
{{Infobox_Municipality_pt|
|official_name = Braga
|image_coat_of_arms = BRG.png
|image_map = LocalBraga.svg
|District =
Braga (district) Braga
|Mayor_name =
Mesquita Machado
|Mayor_party =
Portuguese Socialist Party PS
|area_total = 183.2
|population_total = 170,858
|population_density = 933
|Parishes =
Braga#Parishes 62
|coor = 41º35'N 8º25'W
|params = 41_35_N_8_25_W
|occasion =
John the Baptist Saint John
|day =
June 24
|website = http://www.cm-braga.pt
|footnotes =
}}
'''Braga''' (
Pronunciation pron. International Phonetic Alphabet IPA /{{IPA|'bɾa.É£É?}}/) is a
List of municipalities of Portugal municipality in northwestern
Portugal. It is the capital of the
Braga (district) district of Braga and one of the biggest cities of the country, with a population of 155,000 in the urban area. Including the rural parishes, the municipality has a total of 62 parishes and 170,858 inhabitants. Braga is also the center of the
Greater Metropolitan Area of Minho with a population of 798,137 one of the fastest growing urban areas in the European Union. Under the
Roman Empire, as '''Bracara Augusta''', it was capital of the province
Gallaecia.
The present Mayor is Francisco Mesquita Machado, elected by the
Portuguese Socialist Party Socialist Party.
Parishes
{|
| valign="top" |
* Adaúfe
* Arcos
* Arentim
* Aveleda
* Cabreiros
* Celeirós
* Cividade
* Crespos
* Cunha
* Dume
* Escudeiros
* Espinho
* Esporões
* Ferreiros (Braga)
* Figueiredo
* Fradelos
* Fraião
* Frossos (Braga)
* Gondizalves
* Gualtar
* Guisande
* Lamaçães
* Lamas
* Lomar
* Maximinos
* Mire de Tibães
* Morreira
* Navarra
* Nogueira (Braga)
* Nogueiró
* Padim da Graça
| valign="top" |
* Palmeira
* Panóias
* Parada de Tibães
* Passos
* Pedralva
* Pousada
* Priscos
* Real (Braga)
* Ruilhe
* Santa Lucrécia de Algeriz
* Santo Estêvão do Penso
* São João do Souto
* São José de São Lázaro
* São Mamede de Este
* São Paio de Merelim
* São Pedro de Este
* São Pedro de Merelim
* São Pedro de Oliveira
* São Vicente (Braga)
* São Vicente do Penso
* São VÃtor
* Sé (Braga)
* Semelhe
* Sequeira
* Sobreposta
* Tadim
* Tebosa
* Tenões
* Trandeiras
* Vilaça
* Vimieiro
|}
Sports
Braga's futebol (Soccer) team,
SC Braga plays in the top division of the
Portugal Portuguese Superliga.
Arts and Architecture
The city of Braga has a Roman-style center, many churches and monuments:
*
Bom Jesus do Monte
*
Sameiro Church
*
Monastery of Tibães
*The Cathedral
A modern symbol of the city is the new
Estádio Municipal de Braga Braga Municipal Stadium, carved out of the Monte Castro hill that overlooks the city.
Commerce, Business and Transportation
The major industries in the municipality are construction, metallurgy and mechanics, software development and web design. The computer industry is growing rapidly.
The most important
University in Braga (and in the Minho Region) is the
Universidade do Minho founded in 1973.
History
Image:Braga.jpg thumb|right|250px|Braga: the urban center
Braga is the
Episcopal see see of the archbishopric. Braga was the center from which
Galicia (Spain) Galicia was Christianized, though the early bishops connected with Saint
James the Great are purely legendary. A more historical bishop was Paternus, bishop of the see about 390. After the destruction of
Astorga (Spain) Astorga by the
Visigoths (433), the see was removed to Braga, where it remained until the Moors conquered the region.
Martin of Dumes, abbot of Dumio and bishop of Braga (died in 580), born in Pannonia was the foremost Iberian scholar of his time, according to
Gregory of Tours (''Hist. Francorum'' V, xxxvii).
Isidore of Seville ("De Viris illustribus", c. xxxv) says that Martin converted the
Suevi from
Arianism, instilled Catholic discipline and founded monasteries.
When
Afonso I of Portugal Afonso I, count of Portugal, declared his majority and his independence from
Kingdom of León León, he was countered by his mother and the bishop of Braga. Separated from Spain, the Bishop of Braga assumed even greater importance. Though at a later date the papacy decided in favor of Toledo for primacy among Iberian bishops, there have been many very famous bishops and writers in the diocese of Braga.
Famous Citizens
*
Francisco Sanches (1550-1623)
Born within the diocese of Braga, he studied in Portugal until the age of 12, having then moved on to Bordeaux to continue his studies at the Colégio de Guyenne, where he studied until 1569. This college was the seat of intellectual renovation where religious reformism and the Italian renaissance had an important influence. In 1569, at the age of 19, Sanches went on to Italy, where he studied medicine and learnt how to investigate corpses. When he returned to France, he enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier, the city which was the centre of medical studies at the time. Two years later, in 1575, he set up residence in Toulouse, where he lived until his death. As from 1581, he took up office as a medical doctor at the Hospital Saint Jacques in Toulouse, a post which he maintained for 39 years. In 1585, he was invited to become professor of the Faculty of Arts
of Toulouse, where he taught for 25 years. In 1610, he entered the Faculty of Medicine, where he remained for 11 years.
*
André Soares (1720 – 1769)
In the eighteenth century, Braga revived and boasted a good record in flowery Baroque, featuring the Archbishop of the House of Bragança and the artistic genius of Architect Andre Soares (1720 – 1769), who for all eternity gave Braga a formidable gift, a real landmark of the Baroque in Portugal. With Engineer and Architect Carlos Amarante (1742 – 1815), the end of the century witnessed the transition to the Neoclassical.
*
D. Diogo de Sousa
In the sixteenth century, Braga is a citadel which remains a backwater not influenced by the winds of the Discoveries and the “progress� dominant at the time. D. Diogo de Sousa (a distinguished Archbishop), a man with Renaissance ideas, is going to transform it in such a way that one might speak of it as a refoundation, and so the new Brácara has remained almost unaltered until the nineteenth century.
Trivia
*Braga gave its name to a historic street in
Bandung,
West Java,
Indonesia. And the musical instrument known as the
cavaquinho has its roots in Braga
*The instrument was once so closely associated with the region that it was called the '''braguinha''' ("little Braga").
External links
-
Information about Braga
-
Map of Braga
-
Braga Portal
-
Virtual tourist pictures of Braga
{{Municipalities of Braga}}
Category:Cities in Portugal
Category:Municipalities of Portugal
cs:Braga
da:Braga
de:Braga (Stadt)
el:ΜπÏ?άγκα
es:Braga (Rio Grande do Sul)
fa:براگا
fr:Braga
is:Braga
it:Braga
la:Bracara Augusta
hu:Braga
nl:Braga (stad)
no:Braga
pl:Braga
pt:Braga
ro:Braga
ru:Брага (город в Португалии)
*** Shopping-Tip: Braga
