Monuments

Due to its sculptured design, the church is considered to be one of the finest examples of Romanesque monuments.

This Romanesque church features an ogival entranceway, with five worked archivolts, with the capitals, shafts and spandrels all similarly adorned with a great variety of highly symbolic motifs.

It was built on the wishes of Vasco Nunes, a rich Oporto man during the reign of Afonso Vl of Leon and Castile, who in the late 11th century founded a Benedictine monastery on this site.
In the 15th century, the monastery closed and was reduced to parish church status.

The current building, despite subsequent modifications, has held onto its original 12th century characteristics with the decorative adornment of the 15th and 16th centuries having also kept to the original balanced and harmonious proportions.

Recognised as a masterpiece of Portuguese Romanesque art and classified as a National Monument, the church of São Salvador de Bravães is a monument of unquestionable regional historical importance and of exceptional archaeological and heritage value.