The locale known as Braga was established by the early Celtic tribes that dominated the Iberian Peninsula until it was overrun by the Romans in 250 BC. The Romans named the town Bracara Augusta, which became the capital of the province of Gallaecia. The province stretched all the way into Spain. The town was the intersection of five Roman roads that made the town flourish due to commerce and trade. The Suevi invaded and overtook Braga in 410 AD until the Visigoth hordes led by Theodore II overthrew the Suevi sixty years later. The introduction of Christianity and the embrace of this religion by the Visigoths pushed Braga to Christendom’s forefront. An archbishopric was established in the next century in the town itself making it one of the foremost cities in the world for Christianity. (more…)