CugelVance

2.00 Germany - 25-Oct-24 -

I visited the Bom Jesus do Monte whs on oct the 21st,2024.

Early in the morning I took the empty bus nr.2 in Braga's beautiful city centre to the Bom Jesus area where I arrived around 8.30 am.The last bus stop for bus number 2 was right next to the historical funicular and the stairs. According to google, the area should open its doors at 10:00. Absolute nonsense! I climbed up the historic stairs, giving myself enough time to closely inspect each of the small chapels with their wonderful figures depitcting scenes from the Bible. I needed around 45 minutes to reach the top level.  

Apart from 2-3 joggers and a nun I didnt encounter any other human being on my way up. However,when I reached the level with the basilica,the hotel and the cafe I already saw quite a few tourists. I intended to enter the basilica,but a religious ceremony was in progress and I didnt want to disturb the believers.

Instead, I bought some expensive and bad coffee and sat on a bench. There I enjoyed the sun for a while (and less my bad coffee). After 15 minutes I got up and wanted to go to the basilica when I noticed the hordes of tourists who were now populating the upper level. I hadn't even realized that hundreds of people had arrived within a very short time. Several groups with their guides were running back and forth taking pictures of every stone and plant.

I quickly visited the Basilica and the artificial cave next to the church building. Then I went up to the mini lake and its cafe. Nobody was there. There are free toilets there - the toilets next to the basilica can only be entered after paying and are blocked by long queues of tourists.

I also visited the santuario park there with its three chapels and a foutain.

After that I decided to go down the stairs...........the basilica level looked like a mini disneyland by now......long lines in front of the funicular ticket counter......on my way down quite a lot of people were on the stairs and I didnt enjoy my descent as much as my ascent.

All in all I spent around 1,45-2h there. I strongly recommend that every future visitor gets there as early as possible.....when I arrived at the parking lot next to the funicular station, there were already several coaches there..... .

The Bom Jesus area is obviously a quite popular tourist destination for organised tourist groups with their guides. A pure hell for every world heritage connoisseur!

Despite of all I enjoyed my time there.
Not only did the  stairs enchant me, but also the baroque statues, the small chapel decorations,the figures inside the chapels,the fountains, the arrangement of the stair levels, the perspectives.....the entire ensemble was bewitching.

My heart bleeds when I see religious shrines or holy places overrun by hordes of photo terrorists and badly dressed organised tourist groups.

Thats why I very much like the russian monasteries,muslim mosques or buddhist temples where one can feel the holiness of those places.

The Braga shrine had the feeling of a tourist disneyland.. Therefore,be there as early as possible! 

As you can see from my picuture at 8.30 (till around 9.10 a.m) I had the place to myself.

Frederik Dawson

3.50 Netherlands - 23-May-24 -

On my first visit to Portugal two decades ago, Bom Jesus do Monte was one of the destinations I planned to see, but I had to cut Bragas from the plan as the Guimares – Bragas bus did not show up as per schedule. When my friend asked me to join their wine trip in Portugal, Bom Jesus do Monte was add as a condition of my participation. As a result, on one Sunday afternoon, we drove from Porto to Bragas to fulfil my old itinerary. When we reach the carpark area, my unhappy and reluctant friends who wanted this visit to be short suggested that we should not use funicular and better to drive up to the top of the hill, but I as a driver had a different idea. I knew that there is a small parking lot at the base of the famous staircases which make the visit easy and free of charge. Lucky to us when we reached that small area, one space was free to park, and with very short walk, the magnificent famous stairs were in front of us. 

This kind of architecture I have seen before in old Portuguese colony of Goa at Panaji to be exact, but the size of zigzagging stairs Bom Jesus do Monte was indeed much bigger and more impressive. My friends were in state of awe, the same with me. It was not just the stairs, but the baroque statues, decorations, motifs, fountains were indeed the whole package of beauty. The proportion of the whole design was incredible, how could engineers and architects arrange the scale of each level of stairs to be in such perfect form when seeing from below. At first, I planned to end the trip here but my friend, who originally wanted to go back to Porto as soon as possible, eagerly insisted that we should climb the stairs to the top! A chance to see the small chapels along the way which in my opinion were like those Sacri Monti in Northern Italy. Apart from the stairs, I found that the church and other areas were nice but nothing special or unique.

Since Bom Jesus do Monte has been a major sight of Northern Portugal for a long time, after listed by UNESCO, the place even become more famous, the number of tourists when I was there was unbelievable. I saw big tour buses carried large groups of tourists from Asia and US, the stairs, the church were overcrowded and toilet queue for women was incredibly long, luckily that all those disappeared after 5PM! I afraid that with horde of people on the beautiful stairs, running, climbing for photographs, some measure will be put up in the future. For me, able to fulfil an old travel plan was simply a great moment despite its World Heritage Site status or not, but the most rewarding was to see the eagerness from my friends, the site that they had no idea and no interest to visit became their favorite, second only to the wines in Alto Duoro!

Jakob Frenzel

2.00 Germany - 05-Dec-20 -

October 2020 - after a wonderful day in Guimaraes we continued our drive to the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus, the good old Jesus, arrived on the top and parked our camper almost next to the church. There is a small cafe Pavillon with a terrace overlooking braga, the cablecar and the numerous stairs. Good place for a second breakfast. Coffee and Pastells de Nata, of course. Meanwhile my daughter and me had to visit the 20-30 koys which were swimming in the nearby fountain. The view of braga was nice, but to have a good glimpse of the sanctuary, we had to take the stairs down, zigzag from one platform to the next. As a sensory scientist the fountains were of special interest for me. Looking up to the sanctuary it becomes comprehensible, why this is a WHS. Good thing though, when we reached the last stair, that there was a historic cable car operated with large amounts of water which brought us up again. A fun ride in this technical masterpiece for only 1,50€. 
Back on the hill we visited the Abbey (which is not particularly outstanding) the grotte and of course the devotionals Shop. And continued to still reach the sea again

Els Slots

3.00 The Netherlands - 11-Jul-20 -

Bom Jesus do Monte is a Catholic shrine located just outside the pleasant Northern Portuguese city of Braga. It is located on top of a hill, and the route to it is shaped by a zigzagging staircase that symbolizes the way taken by Christ on the day of his crucifixion. The entire complex is built of granite and is decorated with fountains, statues and other ornaments. The shrine is visible in the far distance from Braga's central square, but it lies some 6 km away.

At half past eight in the morning, I put my rental car in the free parking lot at the bottom of the hill on which the sanctuary is located. From there you can walk up, almost 600 steps have to be climbed on the long wide staircase. I didn't see any other tourists yet, but there were lots of local joggers around for whom this climb apparently fits perfectly into their daily or weekly sports routine. This lower part runs through a forest and is therefore pleasantly shaded. A chapel can be found in every hairpin bend, containing somewhat primitive portrayals of scenes from the last days of the life of Christ.

After about 300 steps I reached the first main plateau, from where you have a wide view over the city of Braga and you are at the foot of the most beautiful part of the stairs to the sanctuary. Unfortunately, early in the morning is not the best time to take pictures of the church and its zigzag stairs from here: the sun rises from right behind the church. Continuing upwards I noticed the locals alternating between the left and right staircases on every intermediate plateau. Those plateaus have a fountain each. The most beautiful are those that symbolize the human senses: the water flows from ears, eyes, nose, mouth and hands.

When you finally arrive at the top, you are in front of the church which is located in a landscaped park with flowers. Like the chapels along the way, the church itself has a Baroque interior, with a busy spectacle of soldiers and other protagonists from the Crucifixion displayed at the altar. As beautiful as I found the granite fountains and statues outside, this setup seemed so primitive.

I was the only visitor in the church: the rest of the dozens of people present on site were only there for the sporting aspect and ran down again quickly after catching their breath. There is also a funicular that you can take to bridge the 116m difference in altitude between the city and the sanctuary. But I walked down as well, enjoying the views and statues some more.

In all, I spent only about one hour at the site (which has free entry by the way), including the walks up and down. It's not really a unique WHS - you can also find such recreated sacred mountains in Italy, Poland and Brazil for example - but it looked monumental and impressive enough to me to justify inscription.

Read more from Els Slots here.

Clyde

2.00 Malta - 17-Jul-19 -

I visited this WHS in August 2014. The inscribed sanctuary in Tenoes is just a short detour from Braga. It was fun to catch a short funicular uphill ride to the sanctuary from the upper town of Braga, parallel to the Escadaria de Bom Jesus to the highest point of 116 metres at the statue of Saint Longinus.

The architecture of the zigzag baroque staircase is the main highlight of this WHS but it isn't unique in Portugal or on a global scale. Similar examples include the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remédios in Lamego, the Nossa Senhora da Paz church in Sao Miguel, Azores or the Nossa Senhora dos Remedios Church in Sao Luis, Brazil and the inscribed Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matozinhos in Congonhas, Brazil. So its OUV lies in possibly being the first example of such an architecture which influenced the construction of other worldwide.

Being a pilgrimage site, as the pilgrims climbed the stairs, by tradition encouraged to do so on their knees, they encountered a theological programme that contrasted the senses of the material world with the virtues of the spirit, at the same time as they experienced the scenes of the Passion of Christ. The culmination of the effort was the temple of God, the church on the top of the hill. The presence of several fountains along the stairways give the idea of purification of the faithful. The 'new' church on top was one of the first Neoclassic churches of Portugal.

Ilya Burlak

3.50 USA - 03-Jun-19 -

The sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte is comparatively young for a religious site – the pilgrimage church dates only from the 17th century, and the current ensemble was fully established less than 200 years ago. This ensemble, especially the Baroque stairway leading up to the main church, features in many travelogues of Northern Portugal as a wonder to behold. It is also up for enshrinement on WH list this year, which played a role in pushing it into a must category on my recent Portuguese itinerary.

The main part of the stairway is a truly impressive sight, even under rainy skies that accompanied my visit. As a non-believer, I can only guess the impact it must have on the actual pilgrims, who are encouraged to make the ascent on their knees.

The total number of steps from the parking lot at the foot of the hill to the church floor is 582 by my on-the-spot count. Over half of that total is along the park-like lower portion of the climb and roughly 200 steps comprise the gorgeous symmetrical zigzag stairway.

The vibrant church interior is headlined by the altar, uncommonly designed as a diorama. Half of the interior was covered in scaffolding due to renovation work. Even in this circumstance, lingering in the church was well justified. I imagine the final outcome of renovation will be entirely jaw-dropping.

Bom Jesus do Monte can be reached in about 45 minutes from Porto by car. My visit, including climbing the entire 582 steps up, spending a bit of time in the church, and then descending back down lasted under an hour. In good weather, I suspect I would have lingered on the various landings of the staircase a bit longer. For those who do not want to or cannot climb the steps, a funicular provides an alternative, but it has a limited schedule. You could also attempt to drive up the hill and park closer to the church. If you choose either of these less-taxing options, you owe it to yourself to walk down and then back up at least 100 or so steps, or you’ll miss the main part of the attraction.

Read more from Ilya Burlak here.

Hubert

2.00 Austria - 17-Jul-18 -

The Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte is a pilgrimage site, only about 25 kilometres north of Guimarães. The pilgrimage church is located on the eastern outskirts on a hill overlooking the city of Braga. In the 14th century, the first chapel was built in that place. The construction of the ensemble in its present form, with the Baroque staircase and the pilgrimage church, was started in the 18th century and completed in 1811.

Having already visited several monasteries, churches and cathedrals on my trip to Portugal, I was not very keen on visiting yet another religious site. But Bom de Jesus is scheduled for decision at the WHC session in 2019, thus it was no question that I made the short detour via Braga on my way from Oporto to Guimarães.
There are three options to get to the pilgrimage church. The classical way is to climb the imposing Baroque staircase. Second, with the historic funicular. And third, by car or bus straight to the top of the hill. Of course, I chose the classical way, well not really the classical way, that would mean climbing the stairs on hands and knees. For my way down, I took the funicular.
The staircase has almost 600 steps and leads in a zigzag up to the forecourt of the church. The first part of the pilgrim path is dedicated to the Via Crucis, several chapels represent the Passion of Christ. After a few minutes walk through a forest, you arrive at the first viewing platform. The photo shows the view to the upper two-thirds of the staircase, this is the most impressive part of the site. On each landing is an allegorical fountain decorated with statues and other symbolic elements. The fountain on the second platform symbolizes the Five Sacred Wounds. The following series of fountains represents the five human senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch; each with its own fountain. This was my favourite section: the water gushed out of orificies such as nose, ears, eyes and mouth. The last section is dedicated to the three Catholic virtues: Faith, Hope and Charity.
The Baroque staircase with the view of the church was a pleasant surprise and is the most outstanding part of the TWHS. Less impressive was the interior of the church, worth mentioning is the altarpiece depicting the crucifixion.

I visited this TWHS on a weekday morning in May 2018. When I arrived at the entrance gate at 9 am, there were only a few other visitors, but after an hour the first busses with tourists arrived. Apparently it is a popular pilgrimage site, as shown by the numerous restaurants and hotels on the hill. All the former pilgrims' hostels around the church have been converted into hotels. The Sanctuary is surrounded by a small forest with artificial grottoes, statues and a small lake. In total, the site has a size of 30 hectares (according to the T-list entry on the Unesco website), obviously large enough to nominate this TWHS as a cultural landscape. The benefit is that the state party can nominate two cultural sites in one year.

In my opinion, Bom Jesus do Monte has a good chance of being inscribed in the WH list. At least better chances than the Mafra Palace, the second Portuguese nomination for 2019, and I liked it better than most of the other TWHS that I have visited on my Portugal trip. Baroque architecture and Christian sites are already well represented on the WH list, but the impressive staircase is an exceptional feature. Maybe enough to convince the WHC of the outstanding universal value of the site. Anyway, I enjoyed my little pilgrimage more than I had expected before.

Michael Novins

United States - 21-Jun-18 -

In June 2018, I rented a car and drove from Porto to the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus, a pilgrimage site in northern Portugal that’s known for its monumental zigzag stairway. Pilgrims traditionally ascend the 577-step Baroque staircase on their knees. I opted, instead, to take the 1882 water-powered funicular.