Episcopal Palace

Palace in Braga

CC BY-SA 3.0 / Alegna13

The Episcopal Palace (Paço Arquiepiscopal de Braga), is set between the Santa Barbara garden and Praça do Municipio is the Archiepiscopal Court (Paço Arquiepiscopal), one of Braga’s most significant historic buildings.

The palace consists of three buildings, all connected, that date from different periods. This, each building has a different architectural style: Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. The palace now contains a public library (Biblioteca Pública de Braga), local archives and offices of the University of Minho.

The oldest section of the building is the medieval Gothic style Eastern wing which looks out over the Santa Barbara Garden. This castellated granite section dates to the 14th and 15th centuries. Built during the time of archbishops Gonçalo Pereira and Fernando War this is a lovely spot to take in the gardens that spill around the ruined arches of this part of the palace. The South wing, which forms the Paço Square, contains various buildings dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries when archbishops Agostinho de Jesus and Manuel de Sousa y Rodrigo de Moura Telles were in residence. The final wing, which faces onto the Municipal Square ( Largo do Municipio) was built in the 18th century to a design by André Soares for Archbishop José de Bragança. It is a fine example of the Portuguese Northern Baroque style. This section of the palace is now home to part of the University of Minho, the public library and the district archive.

The Episcopal Palace appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Braga!

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