The Largo da República do Brasil, popularly known as Campo da Feira, is the largest and one of the most important squares in

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

, Portugal. It has many of the city's landmarks such as the

Santos Passos Church The Santos Passos Church (), officially called Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Consolação e dos Santos Passos and sometimes referred to as Igreja de São Gualter, is an 18th-century Baroque#Portuguese Baroque, Portuguese baroque Catholic church lo ...

, the S. Francisco Comercial Center and the old Colégio de Nossa Senhora da Conceição.

Description

In the south of the Campo da Feira is located the main attraction of the square, the

, and opposite to it are the streets that lead to the Oliveira Square and the Medieval Walls and the Nossa Senhora da Guia Chapel and respective oratory. These are separated by three rectangular gardens filled with flowers and bushes that are changed periodically to match the current season. These gardens are surrounded by

Portuguese pavement Portuguese pavement, known in Portuguese as or simply (or in Brazil), is a traditional-style pavement used for many pedestrian areas in Portugal. It consists of small pieces of stone arranged in a pattern or image, like a mosaic. It can also ...

and subsequently by roads. The garden farthest from the church, previously a roundabout, features a stone

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

at its front and the garden closest to the church features four granite statues, one at each corner, with the two statues farthest from the church having small fountains incorporated in their pedestal. These statues were previously located next to the Santos Passos Church, on the columns of the staircase leading up to it. The statues represent the four saints who wrote the epistles, St. Paul, St. Peter, St. James and St. Jude. The gardens, officially called ''Jardins do Largo da República do Brasil'', received the national award for good practices in local administration in 2008.

Landmarks

Church

The

is an 18th-century Portuguese

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Catholic. It was constructed to replace a chapel that previously occupied the same site. It received the “protected landmark” status by the Portuguese government in 1993. It is also located within the

Historic Centre of Guimarães Historic Centre of Guimarães is an urban space of the city of Guimarães, in Portugal, tracing back to medieval age covering an area of 16 hectares and retaining many buildings from the medieval age until 19th century. Since 2001, it is decla ...

area, a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, since 2001. The church plays a significant role in many of the festivities and religious celebrations of Guimarães, such as the Pinheiro.

Theatre

The square was home of the Vila Pouca Theatre, located on the right side of the Campo da Feira. After the Count of Vila Pouca Theatre was purposely burned down on the night of 18 January 1841, the Afonso Henriques Theatre was built on the northwest part of the square in 1853, to replace it. It was inaugurated in 1855 but due to its poor state and decaying structure it was demolished in the 1940s, being replaced by the Jordão Theatre, built in 1937 and inaugurated in 1938 at the Afonso Henriques Avenue.

References

{{Guimarães Squares in Guimarães