Nowadays, Braga is among the most noted entrepreneurial and technological centers of the country,[3][4][5][6][7] as well as a major hub for inland Northern Portugal, and it is an important stop on the Portuguese Way path of the Road of St James.

[9] Human occupation of the region of Braga dates back thousands of years, documented by vestiges of monumental structures starting in the Megalithic era.

During the Iron Age, the Castro culture extended into the northwest, characterized by Bracari peoples who occupied the high ground in strategically located fortified settlements (castrum).

The region became the domain of the Callaici Bracarii, a Celtic[10] tribe who occupied what is now northern Portugal, Galicia and Asturias in the northwest of Iberia.

[11] In 410, the Suebi established a Kingdom in northwest Iberia covering what is present-day's Northern half of Portugal,[12] Galicia and Asturias, which they maintained as Gallaecia, and had Bracara as their capital.

Between 419 and 422, Braga was threatened by the Vandals so it prepared itself for a siege, closed its gates and refused to open them; this led to the destruction of the surrounding countryside.

Historical records show, so far, that the first known bishop of Braga was named Paternus,[11] who famously renounced priscillianism at the First Council of Toledo, in September of 400 AD.

While thanks to the work of Saint Martin of Braga the Suebi in Iberia renounced the Arian and Priscillianist heresies during two synods held here in the 6th century.

In the early 12th century, Count Henry of Portugal and bishop Geraldo de Moissac reclaimed the archbishopric seat for Braga, with power over a large area in Iberia.

Braga as the main center of Christianity in Iberia, during the Reconquista (until the emergence of Santiago de Compostela and, later, the conquest of Toledo from the Muslims, in 1085), held a prominent stage in medieval politics, being a major contributor to the Independence of Portugal with the intervention of the Archbishop D. Paio Mendes in the Vatican, with Pope Alexander III, which lead to the promulgation of the Bula Manifestis Probatum, in 1179, recognizing Portugal as an independent Kingdom under D. Afonso I Henriques.

[20] Because of this support for D. Afonso Henriques, the new king gave large privileges to the city of Braga handing it over to direct control of the Church, basically making it a personal fiefdom of the Archbishop.

This legal particularism continued all throughout history until the instauration of the Republic giving the city and its surrounding area the nickname of "Paiz Bracarense" (roughly translated as "Country of Braga").

Yet, Archbishop Diogo de Sousa, who sponsored several urban improvements in the city, including the enlargement of streets, the creation of public squares and the foundation of hospitals and new churches, managed to modernize the community.

A similar period of rejuvenation occurred during the 18th century, when the archbishops of the House of Braganza contracted architects like André Soares and Carlos Amarante, to modernize and rejuvenate the city; they began a series of architectural transformations to churches and civic institutions in the Baroque style, including the municipal hall, public library, the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte and many urban palaces.

D. Luís de Sousa was another main archbishop who, with other merits, ordered the Church of the Parish of Saint Victor to be rebuilt, ordered the Campo de S. Ana to be enlarged, to rebuild the Church of S. Vicente, to requalify the Chapel of S. Sebastian and the construction of the Igreja dos Congregados which would later be monumentalized into the current version of the Basilica of the Congregados.

Likewise, under the auspices of this diplomatic archbishop, the canon of the Braga Chapter, João Meira Carrilho, ordered the construction of the Chapel of the Congregation of the Oratory that existed within the Campo de S. Ana (modern day Avenida Central).

[22] The old fortress built on top of the Roman amphitheatre still stood in the 18th century (a description of it was made during the reign of Queen D. Maria I), in the southern part of Maximinos.

But, by the second half of that century, with influence from Portuguese immigrants living in Brazil, new money and tastes resulted in improvements to architecture and infrastructures.

Belino, disgusted, suffered from a stroke, passing away the following year and ending up donating his estate to the Archaeological Museum of the Martins Sarmento de Guimarães Society.

On May 28, 1926, General Gomes da Costa began his march from Braga to Lisbon starting the Revolution of May 28, where he abolished the First Republic and implementing the dictatorial government which would eventually become the Estado Novo.

In the tenth anniversary of the Revolution, dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, visited the city prompting a large fair, a parade and a speech, which he gave on the balcony of the Town Hall.

[24] In the 20th century Braga faced similar periods of growth and decline; demographic and urban pressures, from urban-to-rural migration meant that the city's infrastructures had to be improved in order to satisfy greater demands.

Situated in the heart of Minho, Braga is located in a transitional region between the east and west: between mountains, forests, grand valleys, plains and fields, constructing natural spaces, moulded by human intervention.

Braga has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate similar to other cities in the northwest Iberian Peninsula except for having significantly hotter summer temperatures due to being some distance from the ocean: the absolute maximum is as much as 5 °C (9 °F) higher than neighbouring A Coruña or Santiago de Compostela.

The climate is affected by the Atlantic Ocean which influences westerly winds that are channeled through the region's valleys, transporting large humid air masses.

The success of SC Braga's football team in the first quarter of the 21st century, including participations in the UEFA Champions League, winning the Taça de Portugal (Portuguese Cup) for the second time in 2016 and the third in 2021 and reaching the UEFA Europa League final in 2011, which they lost to fellow Portuguese side FC Porto, improved it on the UEFA club rankings and Portugal's professional football landscape to such an extent that SC Braga started to be dubbed the fourth greatest football club in Portugal, only surpassed by the well-established classic Big Three.

[56][57] The Rampa da Falperra, established as such since 1950 but whose historical origins can be traced back to 1927, nowadays a round of the European Hillclimb Championship, is held every year in the outskirts of the city.