Sanctuary of Bom Jesus is UNESCO World Heritage Site!
The Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte, also known as the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Braga was designed in 1784 and completed in 1811. It is located on the slopes of Mount Espinho, overlooking the city of Braga in the north of Portugal. This cultural landscape evokes Christian Jerusalem, recreating a sacred mount crowned with a church. The sanctuary was developed over a period of more than 600 years, primarily in a Baroque style, and illustrates a European tradition of creating Sacri Monti (sacred mountains), promoted by the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent in the 16th century, in reaction to the Protestant Reformation. It is since 1970 a property of public interest and was elevated to national monument before and because of the candidacy to UNESCO.