Braga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Braga is a city in northwestern Portugal, in the province of Minho. It is the capital of Braga district and an important city of continental Portugal with a population of 112,089 in 23 parishes (urban area). The municipality has 62 parishes and 163,784 inhabitants (2001 census) Braga is also the center of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Minho with a population of 775,137 one of the fastest growing urban areas in the European Union. Under the Roman Empire, as Bracara Augusta, it was capital of the province Gallaecia.
The Braga district includes Braga Guimarães, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Barcelos, Vila Verde and several other smaller villages.
The city of Braga has a Roman-style center and many old churches. The two most known are situated atop a mountain and are a major tourist draw: Bom Jesus do Monte and Sameiro. A modern symbol of the city is the new Braga Municipal Stadium, carved out of the Monte Castro hill that overlooks the city.
The major industries in the city of Braga are construction, methalomecanics, software development and web design. The computer industry is growing rapidly.
The most important University in Braga (and in the Minho Region) is the Universidade do Minho founded in 1973.
Braga is the see of the archbishopric. Braga was the center from which Galicia was Christianized, though the early bishops connected with Saint James the Great are purely legendary. A more historical bishop was Paternus, bishop of the see about 390. After the destruction of Astorga by the Visigoths (433), the see was removed to Braga, where it remained until the Moors conquered the region. Martin of Dumes, abbot of Dumio and bishop of Braga (died in 580), born in Pannonia was the foremost Iberian scholar of his time, according to Gregory of Tours (Hist. Francorum V, xxxvii). Isidore of Seville ("De Viris illustribus", c. xxxv) says that Martin converted the Suevi from Arianism, instilled Catholic discipline and founded monasteries.
When Afonso I, count of Portugal, declared his majority and his independence from León, he was countered by his mother and the bishop of Braga. Separated from Spain, the Bishop of Braga assumed even greater importance. Though at a later date the papacy decided in favor of Toledo for primacy among Iberian bishops, there have been many very famous bishops and writers in the diocese of Braga.
Braga gave its name to a historic street in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. And the musical instrument known as the cavaquinho has its roots in Braga; the instrument was once so closely associated with the region that it was called the braguinha ("little Braga").
