Saturday 3rd May 2025
Heading further north again today, we called at Bom Jesus do Monte en-route to our stop-over at Ponte de Lima, driving at times through heavy thunderstorm rainfall.
Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte:
This is a Roman Catholic religious site which is built on a hill, near to the city of Braga. The name means “Good Jesus of the Mount”. It is another UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The views from the top are spectacular:
The site features a huge staircase, which pilgrims climb to a church at the top. There is also a funicular railway, so guess which we chose:
The first church was built on this site in the 14th century, but there have been later rebuilds in the 15th and 16th centuries. As there was a wedding taking place in the church, we were unable to enter, but the glimpse I gained, was of a very ornate tableau, as seems to be the fashion in many sites in Portugal.
The mount is effectively a resort, with a couple of hotels, landscaped gardens, fountains and even a boating lake at the top.
Around the site, there are many of these shrines. When you look through the window, there is a tableau depicting scenes from the Christ Passion.
The best views are on the descent, so we walked down the long staircase:
At each level as you descend, there is a fountain. Some of them are quite grotesque:
Part-way down, the path crosses the road. Here you can also see the funicular railway line:
There are many more steps down from this point, off to the right, through the woodland:
…until you get back to your starting point. (the funicular is around the corner).
Ponte de Lima:
The very old, small town of Ponte de Lima sits next to the River Lima and takes its name from the medieval bridge which crosses at this point. It is apparently the oldest “Vila” in Portugal (A “vila” is a chartered town which is also the head of a municipality).
The bridge is impressive, consisting of many stone arches to effectively cross the flood plane. The river was first bridged here by the Romans, but there is evidence of occupation going back 3000 years.
The main church in the town is also interesting:
There are several sculptures around the town centre as well as some interesting buildings:
While we enjoyed a drink in a town square cafe, a group of young men arrived and were clearly enjoying the success of their football team, very loudly chanting and singing whilst consuming many rounds of beer:
That is all. See u Later, TTFN.
"See-u-Later" 