Bom Jesus Funicular

The funicular carries passengers from the city of Braga up to the pilgrimage site on the slopes of Mount Espinho, the sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte. The whole complex is a World Heritage site. The line runs parallel with the monumental Baroque staircase to the sanctuary for 274 m at a gradient of 42 degrees. Construction began in 1880 to replace a horse-drawn car that took visitors up the hill. It was designed by Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, who oversaw the construction of several funiculars in Portugal. Yellow wooden carriages with large windows run along two parallel standard-gauge tracks counterbalanced on a steel cable. It is among the earliest of several funiculars built in the late nineteenth century that are moved by the weight of water in tanks below the cars. Water fills the tank at the top of the hill, which descends and pulls up the empty tank and car from the bottom.