Life is like a journey, and climbing a hill can inspire our deepest thoughts. The climb can be used for contemplation and the summit can give us a sense of exhilaration. Around the world all peoples have used hill top sanctuaries. Bom Jesus do Monte (Good Jesus of the Mountain) near Braga is a famous Catholic pilgrimage site that I just had to see. The photos document our visit 2 Dec 2022.
Before I give my reflection on the visit I will include passages by Suzanne Chantal and Jose Augusto dos Santos who give a better impression of the atmosphere :
"The Bom Jesus ...receives pilgrims all the year round. The Via Sacra first winds between thick clumps of trees studded with chapels containing the Fourteen Stations (sic)of the Cross bathed in theatrical light. Finally we arrive at a dignified double staircase which opens and closes like a fan ; it is divided by landings ornamented with curious statues - the Five Senses followed by the Virtues- and leads to an upper terrace watched over by helmeted horsemen and edged by stone balustrades. For the walker, the ascent to the Bom Jesus is a slow stroll in the park of some eccentric prince ; he is bathed in an unsettling form of lyricism springing from the harmonious contrast between lush, perfumed gardens and the stone of the statues whose rich baroque shapes bristling with plumes and tastles are outlined against the bright blue sky. the slope is so steep that the huge, shady esplanade by the sanctuary, crowded with sellers of medalss and statues and tables selling lemonade and confectionary, is not disclosed until the last step."
. It was an easy train ride from Porto and then bus to the entrance to the sanctuary at the foot of the hill. There is a water balanced funicular to reach the top. Despite a week of punishing steps and gradients in Porto I had to walk up! Over 570 steps : this was mad but how could a good Catholic not climb up. Years ago pilgrims were encouraged to go up on their knees (perhaps part?) but I drew the line at that...
Above is a little video of the initial stairways. You may prefer to switvh off the sound!
Pilgrims came here from at least the 14th century and there was a church built in 1629. However it was Archbishop Rodrigo de Moura Telles who started the present concept of stairs with chapels marking the Via Crucis and church in 1722. We gradually ascended these first rows of steps totalling 376, stopping off to view the terracotta sculptures in the 6 chapels dedicated to the Passion.
Archbishop Telles also sponsored the zigzag stairways that follow dedicated to the 5 senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste) 104 steps. The mixture of white walls, granite, ballustrades, statues, flowers, produce an enchanted yet extraordinary sacred garden landscape. The views were stunning as we climbed higher and higher. The first 18th century church was by Manuel Pinto Vilalobos ; sdaly no longer there.
In 1781 Archbishop Gaspar de Braganca added a third segment of stairs (93) dedicated to faith hope and charity, and the church was demolished and a rebuild in a neoclassical style by Carlos Amarate started in 1784. The interior was completed in the early 19th century and consecrated in 1834. Sacheverell Sitwell says simply "the church is entirely negligible and not worth entering". From an artistic point of view it is a disappointment but as the pilgrimage summit it is indispensable.
This is a wonderful place ; views over toward pleasant hills, not jagged mountains, a sense of peace, a pleasure, no a privilege, to be alive and to be there. The ice cream after the climb was good too. We went back down via the funicular....
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| The late 18th century church |
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| The neoclassical interior of the church |
Left : Good example of stepped altar commonly seen in Portuguese churches
Right : church rear view with one sided organ...
A last little video you might enjoy
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