Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte

Why go

The Confraria do Bom Jesus do Monte, the brotherhood that publishes the sanctuary's site, describes it as a sacred mount (sacro-monte) where human presence goes back to the 14th century. Braga's municipal tourism site says the sanctuary as it is today began in 1722 on the initiative of D. Rodrigo de Moura Teles, with the Way of the Cross chapels and the stairways, that Carlos Amarante designed the basilica from 1784 and it was completed in 1811, and that the ensemble has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2019. The Confraria says it operates the funicular, opened on 25 March 1882, which climbs 116 metres on a 267-metre incline beside the stairway, and its information page says visits to the upper choir and bell tower inside the basilica are not allowed while services are held there. This record is the sanctuary as a whole, basilica, stairways and park; the World Heritage designation and the funicular are not separate records here.