| Type: | municipality |
| Flag Border: | no |
| Coordinates: | 41.45°N -26°W |
| Region: | Norte |
| Cim: | Ave |
| District: | Braga |
| Leader Party: | PS |
| Leader Name: | Domingos Bragança |
| Area Total: | 241.3 |
| Population Total: | 152309 |
| Population As Of: | 2019 |
| Parishes: | 48 |
| Whs: | Historic Centre of Guimarães |
| Image Upright: | 1.2 |
| Criteria: | (ii), (iii), (iv) |
| Id: | 1031 |
| Year: | 2001 |
| Area: | 19.45ha |
| Buffer Zone: | 99.23ha |
Guimarães (pronounced as /pt-PT/) 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 and authentic example of the evolution of a medieval settlement into a modern town" in Europe. The Nicolinas are the city's main festivities.[1]
Guimarães is also referred as the capital of the Ave Subregion (one of the most industrialised subregions in the country), and it’s located in the historical Minho Province. The municipality has a population of 152,309 inhabitants according to the most recent data of 2019 in an area of 240.95km².[2] The current Mayor is Domingos Bragança, of the Socialist Party. Guimarães, along with Maribor, Slovenia, was the European Capital of Culture in 2012.
The city was settled in the 9th century, at which time it was called Vimaranes. This name might have had its origin in the warrior Vímara Peres, who chose this area as the main government seat for the County of Portugal which he conquered for the Kingdom of Galicia. Guimarães has a significant historical importance due to the role it played in the foundation of Portugal. The city is commonly referred to as the "birthplace of Portugal" or "the cradle city" (Cidade Berço in Portuguese) because it was in Guimarães that Portugal's first King, Afonso Henriques was born, and also due to the fact that the Battle of São Mamede – which is considered the seminal event for the foundation of the Kingdom of Portugal – was fought in the vicinity of the city.[3] It was declared the most beautiful small city in Europe by the Condé Nast Traveler magazine in 2022.[4]
The History of Guimarães is associated with the foundation and identity of the Portuguese nationality. Guimarães, as well as other settlements, precedes the foundation of Portugal and because of its role in the foundation of the country it is known as the "cradle of the Portuguese nationality". In 1128, major political and military events that would lead to the independence and the birth of a new nation took place in Guimarães. For this reason, in one of the old towers of the city's old wall is written "Aqui nasceu Portugal" (Portugal was born here).
According to archeological findings in Citânia (Castro) of Briteiros and Sabroso and Penha's archeologic site, the area in which Guimarães is located has had permanent settlements since the late Chalcolithic period.
There is also evidence of Roman occupation, and a stone dedicated to the Roman emperor Trajan found in Caldas das Taipas suggests that this was already a spa town in Roman times.[5]
Following the Reconquista policy promoted by the Kingdom of Galicia in the 9th century, the medieval foundations of the actual city have roots in the 10th century. At this point, the Countess Mumadona Dias, erected a monastery in her property of Vimaranes, which led to the settlement of people in the area known as "vila baixa" (downtown). At the same time, she ordered the construction of a castle on the hill area which became known as "vila alta" (uptown), to defend the settlement. To connect these to other areas, the Rua de Santa Maria was built.
The monastery became the "Real Colegiada" (Royal Collegiate church) and throughout time acquired importance due to the privileges and donations given to it by nobles and kings and it became a famous pilgrimage site.
Henry, Count of Portugal approved the first national foral possibly in 1096 (but not confirmed). The foral proves the growing importance of the village of Guimarães at that time, which was chosen as the capital of the County of Portugal.
On 24 June 1128, the "Batalha de São Mamede" (Battle of São Mamede) took place in Guimarães.
During the reign of king Denis, as the town was expanding, it was partially surrounded by a defensive wall. Meanwhile, mendicant orders settled in Guimarães and helped to mold the shape of the emerging city. Later, during the reign of John I, the wall was torn down and the two parts of the city (uptown and downtown) were finally united and the city began to expand outside its old walls.
The construction of St. Peter's Basilica began in 1737, and became a minor basilica in 1751, with formal completion of the work between 1883 and 1884.
Until the 19th century the structure of the city did not suffer many transformations besides the construction of a few more churches, convents and palaces. It was by the ending of the 19th century that new urbanistic ideas of hygiene and symmetry that the village, that was promoted to city by the Queen Maria II on 23 June 1853 had its greatest changes.
The complete demolition of the city walls was authorized and the creation of many streets and avenues could start at that point. The controlled process of urbanization permitted the conservation of the city's magnificent historical centre.
Guimarães hosted the 2024 European Trampoline Championships.[6]
Granite rock formations occupy the majority of the municipality but schist rocks can also be found in certain zones in the northwest of the municipality. On the southeast, clay can be found in stream bed of the Ave, Vizela and Selho rivers.
The municipality is delimited at north by the "Senhora do Monte" (Senhora hill), at northwest by the hills of Falperra, Sameiro, Outeiro and Penedice. To the south by the Penha hill which with height of 613 meters, it is the highest point of the municipality.
Guimarães is part of the drainage basin of Ave river which divides the municipality in half. The Ave river has as tributaries the Vizela, Torto, Febras and inside the city, the Selho, the Couros and the Santa Lúzia stream.
Guimarães is located in a valley and surrounded by hills, and because it is some distance from the sea, the winter is normally cold and rainy and the summer is hot and lightly humid. The average annual temperature is 14 °C.
There is not much diversity, especially in the urban areas, but the municipality has some species of cynegetic interest such as: the red fox, the wild boar, the turtle dove, the thrush, the pigeon and the red-legged partridge. In the green areas of the city, the most common species are rodents, especially squirrels.
See main article: Civil Parishes of Guimarães. Administratively, the municipality of Guimarães is divided into 48 civil parishes (freguesias), previously having 69, but some of these were extinct and merged in 2013, after a nationwide territorial reorganization.[7]
ImageSize = width:750 height:373PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:180000TimeAxis = orientation:verticalAlignBars = justifyScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:10000 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:500 start:0BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo
BarData= bar:1801 text:1801 bar:1849 text:1849 bar:1864 text:1864 bar:1878 text:1878 bar:1890 text:1890 bar:1900 text:1900 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1940 text:1940 bar:1950 text:1950 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2021 text:2021
PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left
bar:1801 from:0 till: 47465 bar:1849 from:0 till: 46619 bar:1864 from:0 till: 44188 bar:1878 from:0 till: 46277 bar:1890 from:0 till: 49738 bar:1900 from:0 till: 54910 bar:1911 from:0 till: 58997 bar:1920 from:0 till: 56359 bar:1930 from:0 till: 65417 bar:1940 from:0 till: 82120 bar:1950 from:0 till: 97064 bar:1960 from:0 till: 116272 bar:1970 from:0 till: 121145 bar:1981 from:0 till: 146959 bar:1991 from:0 till: 157589 bar:2001 from:0 till: 159576 bar:2011 from:0 till: 158124 bar:2021 from:0 till: 156830
PlotData=
bar:1801 at: 47465 fontsize:S text: 47.465 shift:(-8,5) bar:1849 at: 46619 fontsize:S text: 46.619 shift:(-10,5) bar:1864 at: 44188 fontsize:S text: 44.188 shift:(-10,5) bar:1878 at: 46277 fontsize:S text: 46.277 shift:(-10,5) bar:1890 at: 49738 fontsize:S text: 49.738 shift:(-10,5) bar:1900 at: 54910 fontsize:S text: 54.910 shift:(-10,5) bar:1911 at: 58997 fontsize:S text: 58.997 shift:(-10,5) bar:1920 at: 56359 fontsize:S text: 56.359 shift:(-10,5) bar:1930 at: 65417 fontsize:S text: 65.417 shift:(-10,5) bar:1940 at: 82120 fontsize:S text: 82.120 shift:(-10,5) bar:1950 at: 97064 fontsize:S text: 97.064 shift:(-10,5) bar:1960 at: 116272 fontsize:S text: 116.272 shift:(-10,5) bar:1970 at: 121145 fontsize:S text: 121.145 shift:(-10,5) bar:1981 at: 146959 fontsize:S text: 146.959 shift:(-10,5) bar:1991 at: 157589 fontsize:S text: 157.589 shift:(-10,5) bar:2001 at: 159576 fontsize:S text: 159.576 shift:(-10,5) bar:2011 at: 158124 fontsize:S text: 158.124 shift:(-10,5) bar:2021 at: 156830 fontsize:S text: 156.830 shift!(-10,5)
TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:source INE - plot creation by Wikipedia
ImageSize = width:750 height:373PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:55000TimeAxis = orientation:verticalAlignBars = justifyScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:5000 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1000 start:0BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo
BarData=
bar:1864 text:1864 bar:1878 text:1878 bar:1890 text:1890 bar:1900 text:1900 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011
PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left
bar:1864 from:0 till: 7568 bar:1878 from:0 till: 7980 bar:1890 from:0 till: 8611 bar:1900 from:0 till: 9104 bar:1911 from:0 till: 9550 bar:1920 from:0 till: 9023 bar:1930 from:0 till: 9521 bar:1960 from:0 till: 23233 bar:2001 from:0 till: 52182 bar:2011 from:0 till: 47588
PlotData=
bar:1864 at: 7568 fontsize:S text: 7.568 shift:(-10,5) bar:1878 at: 7980 fontsize:S text: 7.980 shift:(-10,5) bar:1890 at: 8611 fontsize:S text: 8.611 shift:(-10,5) bar:1900 at: 9104 fontsize:S text: 9.104 shift:(-10,5) bar:1911 at: 9550 fontsize:S text: 9.550 shift:(-10,5) bar:1920 at: 9023 fontsize:S text: 9.023 shift:(-10,5) bar:1930 at: 9541 fontsize:S text: 9.541 shift:(-10,5) bar:1960 at: 23233 fontsize:S text: 23.233 shift:(-10,5) bar:2001 at: 52182 fontsize:S text: 52.182 shift:(-10,5) bar:2011 at: 47588 fontsize:S text: 47.588 shift:(-10,5)
TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:source INE and Direcção Geral do Ordenamento do Território e Desenvolvimento Urbano - plot by Wikipedia
Guimarães is an average size city but with a booming cultural life. Besides its museums, monuments, cultural associations, art galleries and popular festivities, it has since September 2005, an important cultural space, the Vila Flor Cultural Center. This cultural center has two auditoria, exhibition center and a concert-cafe. Guimarães was the European Capital of Culture in 2012, together with Maribor in Slovenia.
Guimarães is also home to association football club Vitória S.C. who compete in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal.
Guimarães was elected by The New York Times one of the 41 places to go in 2011 and called it one of the Iberian peninsula's emerging cultural spots.[8]
The fact that Guimarães was founded on the lands of a female convent had a great influence on the region's cuisine, especially its confectionery, such as the "Tortas de Guimarães"[9] (Guimarães' tarts, a half moon flakey pastry wrongfully named a tart) and, mainly, the "Toucinho do céu" (normally, but incorrectly, translated as bacon from heaven, a moist yellow-colored pudding-cake). Besides what is usual in Minho, such as "vinho verde", "Papas de sarrabulho" (a pig meat and blood porridge), "Rojões" (stewed pig meat served with potatoes and entrail sausage), etc., the so-called "Bôla de carne"[10] (Meat cakes) is also made here, consisting of a type of bread (shaped like a pizza) served with toucinho (bacon), sardines or other toppings.
The city of Guimarães has several cultural spaces of reference at a regional and national level. Among the several museums of the city, the Alberto Sampaio museum is the one that stands out. Founded in 1928, it opened its doors to the public in 1931; it is located in the old site of the Canon the Collegiate of Our Lady of Oliveira (Cabido da Colegiada de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira in Portuguese). It contains a rich collection of pieces from the 14th, 15th and 16th century, including one rare vest that was used by the king John I.
The Martins Sarmento Society (Sociedade Martins Sarmento in Portuguese) is one of the country oldest institutions dedicated to the study and preservation of archaeological artifacts. The society owns two museums: the Archaeological Museum of the Martins Sarmento Society, which is known by its prehistory and protohistory collections and also its numismatics and epigraphy collections; and the Castro Culture Museum which is dedicated to the Castro culture.
There is also: the Primitive Modern Arts Museum, located in the Domus Municipalis (the old city hall), which contains a collection of naïve art; the Museum of the Village of São Torcato, which is dedicated to the region and its relationship with the monastery and Saint Torcato (São Torcato in Portuguese); the Agriculture Museum of Fermentões, which exhibits collections of the traditional agricultural practices of the region; and the Museum of São Sebastião, inaugurated on 24 March 1984, which contains mainly sacred art.
Other cultural venues include:
Guimarães has two major sports club, Vitória Sport Clube, whose football (soccer) team has been the city's representative in the Primeira Liga every year, having already conquered a Portuguese Cup in 2012/13 and a Portuguese Supercup in 1988, and Moreirense Futebol Clube, whose football (soccer) team is also in Primeira Liga for some years and already won the Portuguese Second Division in 2013/14 and the Portuguese League Cup in 2016/17. During Vitória SC European campaigns, the Portuguese team played against teams like Arsenal FC, Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad, Eintracht Frankfurt, Parma FC and Borussia Monchengladbach.
Vitória SC also has basketball, volleyball and water polo squads competing in the top divisions of their sports.
In 2008, the city ranked second in the index of most livable city in Portugal. It is also the 10th least polluted city in the country according to IQAir.
In 2004, 89% of the population had running water; it was forecast that the number would raise to 95% by 2006. In 2001, 63.5% of the population had basic sanitation; it was forecast that the number would raise to 80% by 2008. In 2001, 100% of the population had access to waste management services.
However, several people complain that the city, together with other cities of the Braga district has had an unaesthetic and unorganized growth.
Guimarães ranks fourth in the country for available newspapers. The oldest was the "Azemel Vimaranense", founded in 1822; it possibly had its publication halted by the Vilafrancada incidents. From 1856, other newspapers start to appear, amongst them "A Tesoura de Guimarães". Actually the city's newspapers are:
There are two stations headquartered in the town: Radio Fundação (95.8 FM) and Radio Santiago (98.0 FM).
The Guimarães TV transmission is made online since 24 July 2007; it is the result of a collaboration between the city's assembly and the Guimarães Cybercenter. Its contents are feature in the Região Norte TV channel which is available through cable.
The "canalguimarães" was another online channel that started operating in March 2010. It is the fruit of the effort put in by an arts association, the "Associação de Socorros Mútuos Artística Vimaranense", one of the oldest associations of the city.
Guimarães is one of the most industrial municipalities in Portugal. Its primary industries are textiles, shoe industry and metalomechanics.
Guimarães is linked to Porto by the Guimarães line. This railway line was originally built with narrow gauge track, then modernised and rebuilt to the broad Iberian gauge in the first decade of the 21st century. The train service is operated by Comboios de Portugal (CP). Locally, Guimarães is served by TUG (Transportes Urbanos de Guimarães) which operates 21 bus routes serving the city.
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Portugal. Guimarães is twinned with:[13]
Brive-la-Gaillarde, France
Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay Compiègne, France Dijon, France[14]
Igualada, Spain
Londrina, Brazil
Mé-Zóchi, São Tomé and Príncipe Montluçon, France[15]
Ribeira Grande de Santiago, Cape Verde Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Tacoronte, Spain