Guimarães - Paço dos Duques de Bragança

Guimarães was settled in the 9th century, at which time it was called Vimaranes. This name might have had its origin in the warrior Vímara Peres, who chose this area as the main government seat for the County of Portugal which he conquered for the Kingdom of Galicia. Guimarães has a significant historical importance due to the role it played in the foundation of Portugal. The city is commonly referred to as "the cradle city" because it was in Guimarães that Portugal's first King, Afonso Henriques was born, and also due to the fact that the Battle of São Mamede – which is considered the seminal event for the foundation of the Kingdom of Portugal – was fought in the vicinity of the city.

The Paço dos Duques de Bragança was ordered to be built in the first quarter of the 15th century by Afonso, Count of Barcelos, the illegitimate son of João I, and future Duke of Braganza. Yet, by 1442, it was still under construction when the Regent Pedro I ("The Cruel") came to Guimarães and stayed at the Palace, at the time conferring on his half-brother the title of 1st Duke of Braganza. The commission continued into 1461. After Afonso died in 1461, property and titles passed on to his brother, Fernando, although the widow, Constança de Noronha, continued to live at the residence and received the land rents from the holdings in Guimarães.