Barganca travel guide

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Bragança in Tras-os-Montes is near to the Spanish frontier and accessible by bus [not every day] from Zamora in Spain as well as from other Portuguese cities. Coming from Spain it is amazing how much things change when the border is crossed - certainly nobody would take this for a Spanish town. The town is pleasant enough and there's a good museum but what catches the eye and holds it is the Cidadela - a separate mediaeval village on a hill-top above the city.

here is a sort of castle which belonged to the Dukes of Bragança, who supplied the last royal family in Portugal, but it wasn't their main residence. Near it are two amazing things: the first is a pillory [pelourinho] rising from the back of a prehistoric stone pig.

The population of the municipality is 34,774 and its total area is 1,173.6 kmª. It lies on a branch of the Sabor River south of the Culebra Mountains, 255 km northeast of Porto, 515 km from Lisbon and 22 km. from the Spanish border. The city is at an elevation of 700m.
The seat of the municipality is the city of Bragança, which consists of two parishes (Sé and Santa Maria) and has a population of about 21,000.
The neighbouring municipalities are Vimioso in the southeast, Macedo de Cavaleiros in the southwest and Vinhais in the west. The city has a small airport.