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Guimarães was the birth place of Dom Afonso Henriques who was the first king of Portugal. Dom Afonso was born in 1110, he was the son of Henry of Burgundy, Count of Portugal and his wife Teresa of Léon who was the illegitimate daughter of King Alfonso of Castile and León. Dom Afonso succeeded his father at the age of two and ruled with guidance from his mother.

By the age of 11 he had developed his own political ideas that were not in agreement with his mother and more in line with the Archbishop of Braga one of her political enemies. The Archbishop and Afonso were both exiled 335 kilometers east to Zamora in Castile-Leon. At the age of 14 Afonso knighted himself in the Cathedral at Zamora, raised an army and started the process of taking back his own land from his mother. In 1128 Afonso now 18 years old defeated his mother and her lover’s army at the Battle of Sâo Mamede just outside Guimarães.

Afonso took his mother prisoner and exiled her forever to the monastery in Léon. In 1129 Afonso proclaimed himself Prince of Portugal and Guimarães became the capital city. The castle built by Afonso’s father is in excellent condition as is the small chapel of São Miguel just outside the castle walls where Afonso was probably baptized which is shown to the right.

Close to the castle is the much larger Paço dos Duques de Bragança, which is a palace built in about 1420 for Afonso the illegitimate son of King John 1 who became the first Duke of Bragança. In the 17th, 18th & 19th century this building disintergrated to the point of becoming a ruin. In 1937 a programme of re-building was started and it became the official residence of President Salazar and is today the official residence of the President of the Republic.

The old centre of Guimarães is an attractive combination of narrow cobbled streets and squares with houses with overhanging wooden balconies. There are several medievel churches and convents.

Guimarães is 364 kilometers north of Lisbon and 220 kilometers west of Bragança