Bracara Augusta is the Roman name of the present city of Braga, founded by Emperor Augustus between 15 and 13 BC. It was the capital of the Roman conventus, the capital of the province of Gallaecia, and the capital of the Kingdom of the Suebi. (Cm-pontedelima) It is the point from which this territory was governed for centuries — the administrative and symbolic axis of everything this route crosses.
At the heart of the city, hidden on a street in the historic centre, is the Fonte do Ídolo. It is a 1st-century rock-cut sanctuary dedicated to Tongoenabiago — a local deity associated with watercourses. It is the only Roman monument of Bracara Augusta to have survived relatively intact. An inscription states that a man named Célico Fronto, from Arcóbriga, commissioned the monument. (Clubevinhosportugueses) The sanctuary shows two sculpted figures in relief and Latin inscriptions identifying the venerated deities: Nabia, associated with waters and fertility, and Tongoenabiago, possibly her consort. Interpreted as a sacred site predating the foundation of Bracara Augusta, the Fonte do Ídolo testifies to the ritual importance of the Braga hill in the Iron Age. (Visite Ponte de Lima)
Bracara Augusta was taken by the Suebi in 409 and under their rule became the capital of the kingdom — a political and intellectual centre of the northwestern Peninsula. It served as the ecclesiastical seat of Gallaecia until replaced by Compostela. (ICNF) The Suebian Kingdom of Gallaecia was the first stable post-Roman kingdom in the West, with Braga as its capital, lasting nearly two centuries. (Natural) Its conversion to Catholicism, organised around the Councils of Braga, was the first act of Christian identity construction in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula.
Braga is the natural endpoint of the Portuguese section of this route. From here the Roman roads radiated to every corner of the territory; from here Gallaecia was governed; from here the evangelisation that overlaid a new layer on all previous ones was organised. The Fonte do Ídolo is 200 metres from the Cathedral. The pre-Roman serpent sanctuary and the medieval cathedral exist in the same city — a short walk apart.
When to visit: The Fonte do Ídolo is on Rua do Raio, historic centre. Open Tuesday to Friday 9am–5:30pm; weekends and holidays 11am–5pm. The Museu D. Diogo de Sousa holds the most important archaeological collection from Roman Bracara.
