Mosteiro de Tibães, Braga, Portugal

The Monastery of Tibães is located 6km north-west from Braga. It was founded In the late 10th, early 11th century. With the support of the Royal House, it became one of the wealthiest monasteries in northern Portugal.
In the 16th century, following the Protestant Reform in northern Europe, it became the mother house of the Benedictine congregation in Portugal and Brazil.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was heavily renovated in the late Mannerist and Rocaille styles, acquiring its magnificent gilded church that makes it a unique element of Portuguese architectural patrimony. In 1834 the religious orders were extinct in Portugal and the monastery's buildings, land and furniture were sold. By the 1970s it was abandoned and degraded. It was bought by the Portuguese State in 1986 to be recovered and opened to the public.
You can also visit the monastery's park, where you'll find a small replica of the Bom Jesus sanctuary.
It has won several awards, including Terra Nostra, the European Union Prize for cultural heritage and the award for architectural restoration in the Miami Biennale. 

Opening hours: tue. to sun. 10 am to 7 pm (6 pm nov. to mar.)
Entrance fee: €4 or €7 together with Museu dos Biscainhos and Archaeological Museum Diogo de Sousa.
How to go: bus n. 50, every half hour, from 9.30 to 17.30, business days, from Praça Conde Agrolongo; bus n. 90 on weekends and holidays, from Avenida Central. Taxi, about €20 round trip.
















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