Directly in front of you is the lively Toural Square, easily spotted by its open stone plaza framed by elegant, tall buildings and crowned with a grand, double-tiered fountain that sparkles in the sunlight-just look for the impressive clock tower of St. Peter’s Basilica on the left side.
Welcome to the very heart of Guimarães-Toural Square-a place where history and pigeons have both tried to gather, but only the swallows stuck around! Picture this: the year is somewhere in the 1600s, and instead of cafes and friendly faces, this spot thunders with the sound of hooves, hulking oxen, and-you guessed it-bulls, all here for the city’s famous cattle fairs. In fact, “Toural” gets its name from “touro,” the Portuguese word for bull. If a seventeenth-century farmer could see it now, he’d probably wonder where all the livestock went and why nobody’s trying to sell him a plough.
Back then, this square was outside Guimarães’ main gate-literally the edge of town. Then came Queen Maria I in the 18th century, who looked at the medieval wall and thought, “Time for an upgrade!” Down came the wall (well, except for the Alfândega Tower that you can still spot), and up rose some stunning, Pombaline-style townhouses, the kind you see lining the square today. These homes followed new, modern plans, inspired by the grand rebuilding of Lisbon after the great 1755 earthquake.
Spin through the centuries, and you’d see Toural shifting from livestock central, to a place for elegant strolls around a public garden-iron railings, bandstand, benches, the whole romantic scene. The garden was replaced after the Republic was established, swapped out for a statue of Portugal’s very first king, Afonso Henriques. But don’t get too attached to statues here-they moved him again, this time to Castle Park! Now you’ll see that fantastic fountain marking the center, but rest assured, the square continues to change and surprise-locals still debate the renovations from just a few years ago.
And while most city squares attract pigeons, Toural prefers the company of swallows. Take a look around-you might see them swooping and darting above your head, as if they, too, have stories to share about the bulls, the kings, and the grand parties that have filled this plaza for generations. Oh-and keep an eye out for St. Peter’s Basilica, just across the way; it’s the only neoclassical church in the region with only one tower, a charming architectural quirk that even the King of Portugal might have scratched his head at!
