Bom Jesus do Monte (Braga Portugal) – Photos + Planning Tips for Visit

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Let's start with a short video of my visit to the Sanctuary. You will see the Funicular ride, listen to the church's bells, discover the gardens and admire the staircase and its statues. I hope you'll enjoy it!

In case the video is not enough. Let me tell you why Bom Jesus is a must-visit in Portugal. Here are a few facts about Bom Jesus do Monte:

• Its name means Good Jesus of the Mount.
• It is located on higher grounds above Braga in a magnificent park
• The old funicular is working with a Counterbalancing system using water
• The giant baroque stairway is 116m high
• There was already a chapel in the 14th century, but the current sanctuary dates back to the 18th century.
• The 3 fountains in the zigzag staircase represent the 3 theological Virtues: Faith, Hope and Charity
• The Church has been elevated to a Minor Basilica
• From the church you have great views of the region.
• It is a fantastic playground for photographers with contrasts and geometrical shapes 🙂

Below is the famous zigzag staircase of the Sacred way, what do you think? 

And here is the view, not bad!

Photos continue after the planning tips

How to get to Braga Bom Jesus

Visiting Bom Jesus Braga

• Bom Jesus Braga opening hours - Funicular: 8am to 8pm
• Bom Jesus Braga entrance fee - free access - 2€ for funicular return trip
• If you have bad knees, I recommend taking the funicular one way and the staircase the other way depending
• 250 steps from the church to the bottom of the zigzag staircase
• 575 steps total from the church to the parking lot
• Toilets at the parking lot and near the church (small fee)

Where to stay in Braga & Bom Jesus

How to get to Bom Jesus Braga

How to get up to Bom Jesus Church

As you will see in the next section, the traditional way of getting up to the church is via the stairs, the sacred way.
However if climbing 575 stairs is bad for your knees, you can take the funicular.
Just to the left of the entrance is a smaller parking lot with the access. 
It costs 2.50€ return or 1.50€ one-way.

The ride up the hill runs every 10 minutes and does not take long.

Construction started in 1880 as designed by Raul Mesnier du Ponsard. And it was such a success that he was asked to design more in Lisbon. It uses 2 tracks and each cabin can transport 30 people.
Each cabin has a water tank that functions as counterweight. At the top of the hill, the reservoir is filled with water to make the cabin descend. Both cars arrive at their stops simultaneously.
Learn more about its history and engineering here. 

Note that if you take the funicular you reach the level of the church. To see the perspective on the staircase you will have to either walk down and back up 250 steps or walk down the complete 575 steps back to the parking lot.

However, the sacred way to reach the church is via the staircase.
I counted a total of 575 steps.
There are 2 sections. Here is the first one that leads to the bottom of the zigzag baroque stairway.

This first part of the climb is very enjoyable as you are walking under the trees alternating flat path and stairs. 

On the way you can see chapels dedicated to the Sacred Way. If you look inside, you will see that they are decorated with terra cotta sculptures depicting the Passion of the Christ.

And here is the church as the top.

Its style is Baroque. It is not that big, and the real attraction is the staircase.
However I recommend waiting a little bit at the top to hear the bells ring. It is quite nice.
Inside, the design from the 19th century is quite elegant. As you will see below in the photos the main altar is dedicated to the Crucifixion.

Before heading down the stairs, you can enjoy beautiful gardens. You can also go and explore some trails in the dense forest; They will take you to artificial lakes and grottoes.

Take the time to admire the many statues around the garden and staircases. They are all looking towards the fantastic view of Braga and its surrounding hills.
It is facing towards the West, and on a very clear day you can see the ocean.

And now I am sharing about the best part of the Sanctuary, the zigzag staircase of the Via Crucis, the Sacred Way.

It is composed of 2 sections.

The top one has 3 fountains for the 3 Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. In the picture below you can see the alignment of the 3 fountains.

The bottom part of the zigzag staircase represents the 5 senses and is even more impressive because of the perspective of 5 levels.

And here is a photo from the bottom of the zigzag stairway (still have 325 steps to climb down in order to reach the parking lot.

Want to see more of PORTUGAL?

Impressive Staircase, don't you think?

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