Historical Center of Guimarães

Architecture

- Unique characteristics of the city, which evolved from a medieval locality to a modern city.

- Preserved buildings using traditional construction techniques.

- Architectural highlights such as Largo da Oliveira, the Igreja Nossa Senhora da Oliveira (Church of Our Lady of Oliveira), and the "casas alpendradas" (houses with porches).

Construction Techniques

- "Taipa de rodízio": a construction technique for exterior and interior walls used on upper floors.

- "Taipa de fasquio": a construction technique using wooden boards and diagonal lathing.

- Use of plaster and artisanal paints as finishes.

Houses and Other Buildings

- 16th-century bourgeois houses built with granite and "taipa de rodízio".

- Urban noble houses from the 16th and 17th centuries made of granite stonework.

- "Casas de ressalto" (houses with protruding elements) with granite masonry on the ground floor and "taipa de rodízio" on the upper floors.

- 18th-century urban houses with smooth facades and houses covered with tiles from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Castle

- Linked to the foundation of the County of Portugal and the struggles for Portugal's independence.

- Considered the "birthplace of nationality".

- Features a faceted shield-shaped plan, walls reinforced by towers and gates, and a central keep.

- Ruins of the old alcazaba visible on the northern section of the walls.

Curiosities

- Tradition of being the birthplace of the first king of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques.

- Baptismal font of D. Afonso Henriques in the Romanesque chapel of the Igreja de São Miguel da Oliveira (Church of Saint Michael of Oliveira).