One Way Ticket

I may get very tired of visiting churches before I depart Portugal. Braga is an old catholic religious center of Portugal. Bom Jesus is a world heritage site. 

There are 573 steps to get to the chapel at the top. Along the way you pass many grottos. Each grotto depicts a scene from the crucifixion of Christ. They are extremely realistic and life-size figures within the grottos. This is at the beginning of the 573 steps.

Along the way we came across workers repairing in a traditional manner, some of the stone walls. 

One of the stations of the cross along the climb, depicts Simon of Serene helping Jesus carry his cross.

The Catholic monument of Bom Jesus was built between 1784 and 1857.

Near the church at the top of the hill, there is a lake. A group of men were trying to hang a canoe from trees near a gazebo. We sat on a bench and were simply entertained. The same worker climbed the tree each time they attempted to raise the canoe. He got to the top of the ladder, and after many attempts was able to in circle the tree with a rope. We’re not sure where the canoe is now as we did not stay for the end of this project 

We took the easy way down to the city bus. Getting to this church is so important to pilgrims who come from all over the world that it is part of the city bus system.

This is the world’s oldest hydraulic funicular. The driver we has been the operator of the funicular for over 40 years