Insider Tip
Barredo District
Explore the Barredo district – the area between the Sé and the riverfront – a maze of steep alleys lined with attractive balconied houses.
E3 ⌂ Terreiro da Sé § 222 059 028 # Apr–Oct: 9am–7pm Mon–Sat, 9am–12:30pm, 2:30–7pm Sun; Nov–Mar: 9am–6pm Mon–Sat, 9am–12:30pm, 2:30pm– 6pm Sun
Built as a fortress church in the 12th and 13th centuries, the cathedral has been modified several times. The beautiful rose window in the west front is an original element, dating from the 13th century. Don't miss the small chapel to the left of the chancel, which has a dazzling silver retable, saved from invading French troops in 1809 by a hastily raised plaster wall. The south transept gives access to the 14th-century cloisters and the Capela de São Vicente. An 18th-century staircase leads to the upper levels, where azulejo panels depict the life of the Virgin and Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
Insider Tip
Explore the Barredo district – the area between the Sé and the riverfront – a maze of steep alleys lined with attractive balconied houses.
E3 ⌂ Terreiro da Sé # 9am–1pm, 2–6pm Mon, Tue, Thu–Sat ∑ diocese-porto.pt
There has been a bishop’s palace on this spot since the 13th century and the building has witnessed some momentous occasions in Portuguese history, including the coronation of the first king of Portugal. The Paço Episcopal was used as the residence of the city’s bishops until the Siege of Porto in 1832 when the bishop fled the city. During this period of Civil War, the palace was used by Pedro IV’s troops as a stronghold in the battle against Miguel I. The building also served as seat of the Municipality of Porto between 1916 and 1956.
The building that you can visit today was first constructed in 1772 under Nicolau Nasoni (1691–1773), a highly influential Italian architect who helped to introduce Baroque styles to the Portuguese city. Subsequent alterations have left the palace with a mixture of architectural styles.
Tours, which run every half-hour for 30 minutes, take in a series of sumptuous rooms that give an insight into the lavish lifestyle of the bishops of Porto. The ornate furniture includes Indo-Portuguese cabinets and priceless paintings.
t Pillory in Terreiro da Sé, with Porto’s impressive Sé behind
E3 ⌂ Rua de Dom Hugo 32 § 222 003 689 # 10am–5:30pm Tue–Sun ¢ Public hols
Poet and fiery Republican activist Guerra Junqueiro (1850 –1923) is most widely known for penning the verses Finis Patriae (1890) and Os Simples (1892). His former home is an 18th-century Baroque gem, built by Nicolau Nasoni, whose buildings are found throughout the city.
Inside, you'll find items from the poet’s private collection, which ranges from rare ceramics and Portuguese furniture to Flemish tapestries and a striking set of English alabaster sculptures. In the grand Dom João V Room, you'll find a colourful parade of Chinese dogs.
Experience Porto
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STAY 1872 River House Charming historical townhouse on the riverfront, with contemporary decor. D4 ⌂ Rua do Infante Dom Henrique 133 ∑ 1982riverhouse.com ¡¡ ¡ Flores Village Behind the façade of a traditional townhouse lies a boutique hotel, with garden and pool. E2 ⌂ Rua das Flores 139 ∑ floresvillage.com ¡¡¡ The Yeatman An exclusive hotel with sumptuous rooms and a top restaurant. E5 ⌂ Rua do Choupelo, Vila Nove da Gaia ∑ the-yeatman-hotel.com ¡¡¡ |
B2 ⌂ Rua de Miagaia 106 # 10am–6pm Mon–Fri (to 7pm Sat & Sun) ¢ 1 Jan, 25 Dec ∑ worldofdiscoveries.com
This family-friendly interactive museum is located in the heart of the city. The 20 themed areas recount Portugal’s history, including the country’s groundbreaking maritime achievements in the 15th and 16th centuries.
B2 ⌂ Rua Nova da Alfândega, Edifício da Alfândega # 10am–1pm, 2–6pm Tue–Fri, 3–7pm Sat & Sun ¢ 1 Jan, Easter, 24 Jun, 25 Dec ∑ amtc.pt
Housed in a vast Neo-Classical building on the riverfront, this museum includes a permanent exhibition on the automobile and interactive exhibitions on media, science, new technologies and art.
E2 ⌂ Praça Almeida Garrett q São Bento
t São Bento rail station
Porto’s central railway station, São Bento, was built in Beaux-Arts style between 1900 and 1916. The soaring walls of the entrance hall are a feast of azulejos. The artist Jorge Colaço adorned the station with some 20,000 decorative tiles depicting scenes such as rural festivities, traditional modes of transport and historic events, such as the Portuguese conquest of Ceuta. It’s worth visiting the station for the entrance hall alone, although it’s also the starting point of the Linha do Douro – a train ride up the Douro Valley past terraced vineyards.
t Portuguese conquest of Ceuta
D3 ⌂ Rua Ferreira Borges # Apr–Oct: 9am–6:30pm daily; Nov–Mar: 9am–12:30pm, 2–5:30pm daily ¢ 1 Jan, 25 Dec ∑ palaciodabolsa.pt
Where the monastery of São Francisco once stood, the city’s merchants built the stock exchange, or Bolsa, in 1842. The Tribunal do Comércio, where the city’s mercantile law was upheld, is full of historic interest.
t Palácio da Bolsa
Look out for the Pátio das Nações – the former trading floor – which is lined with the flags of all the countries the exchange once traded with. The stock exchange was in action until 1990, when it merged with the Lisbon stock exchange. The adjacent courtyard (which you can enter without a ticket) has a very smart restaurant, O Comércial. The glittering highlight is the Arabian Room. This galleried salon, its complex blue and gold arabesques inspired by Granada’s Alhambra, makes a setting fit for Scheherazade – the heroine of One Thousand and One Nights.
t Arabian Room
D3 ⌂ Rua do Infante Dom Henrique § 222 062 100 # 9am–5:30pm daily (to 7pm Mar–Jun & Oct; to 8pm Jul–Sep) ¢ 25 Dec
The building of this Gothic church was begun in the 1300s, but it is the 18th-century Baroque interior that amazes visitors. Over 200 kg (450 lb) of gold encrusts the dazzling high altar, columns and pillars, wrought into cherubs and garlands, culminating with the Tree of Jesse on the north wall. A tour includes the catacombs and treasures from the church’s monastery, destroyed in 1832.
Santa Casa da Misericórdia was once the centre for Portugal’s most important charitable organization, which was founded in 1499. Spread over four floors, it is now a museum that traces the fascinating history of the organization’s philanthropic work, which included running hospitals, a medical school and an orphanage, as well as providing legal aid for prisoners.
The museum features an impressive collection of art, including evocative portraits of the organization’s most important charitable donors, and religious artifacts that attest to the wealth of Santa Casa da Misericórdia. Look out for the stunning 18th-century ivory statue of the Crucifixion.
However, the museum’s most precious possession is the Fons Vitae (Fountain of Life), donated by Manuel I in about 1520. It shows the king and his family kneeling before the crucified Christ. The artist’s identity remains unproven, but both Van de Weyden and Holbein have been suggested.
The admission ticket also includes entry to the adjacent Igreja da Misericórdia. This church was originally built in the 16th century but was given an impressive Baroque makeover by famous Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni in the 18th century.
Experience Porto
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SHOP Chocolateria Ecuador Located on a lovely pedestrianized street, this boutique sells sublime artisan chocolates (including dark chocolate flavoured with port, a nod to the city’s main industry), macaroons and bonbons. E2 ⌂ Rua das Flores 298 § 222 018 167 Fernandes Mattos & Co This 19th-century fabric store may have kept its traditional fittings, including its wooden shelves, but it now sells games, toys, mugs and souvenirs. D1 ⌂ Rua das Carmelitas 108–114 § 222 005 568 |
The françesinha was invented by a local who decided to make his own version of a croque monsieur.
D2 ⌂ Rua São Filipe de Nery # 9am–7pm daily ∑ torredosclerigos.pt
This unmistakable hilltop church was built in the 18th century by the Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni. The soaring Torre dos Clérigos with which the architect complemented his design is, at 75 m (246 ft), still one of the tallest buildings in Portugal. The dizzying 240-step climb is worth it for the superb views of the river, the coastline and the Douro Valley. During the climb up you’ll come across a large carillion, with 49 bells, that can give you quite a fright if you’re in the bell tower when they ring.
D1 ⌂ Rua das Carmelitas 144 # Mid-Jun–Sep: 10am–8pm daily; Nov–mid-Jun: 10am–7:30pm Mon–Fri, 10am–7pm Sat ¢ Public hols ∑ livrarialello.pt
This beautiful bookshop was founded by the Lello brothers in 1906, who commissioned engineer Francisco Xavier Esteves to design a grand home for their limited edition books. Although it was always buzzing with local customers, Livraria Lello is now a popular attraction, largely because it was here that author J K Rowling is said to have gained inspiration for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s’ Stone. It does not take long to see why: the Neo-Gothic interior, with its gallery, stained-glass roof panels and curving double staircase would not look out of place in Hogwarts.
t Interior of Livraria Lello, said to have inspired author J K Rowling
D1 ⌂ Rua do Carmo § 222 078 400 # 8am–noon, 1–6pm Mon, Wed, 9am–6pm Tue, Thu, 9am–5:30pm Fri, 9am–4pm Sat, 9am–1:30pm Sun
Igreja do Carmo, a typically ornate example of Portuguese Baroque, was designed by the architect José Figueiredo Seixas. The church was constructed between 1750 and 1768, and one of its most remarkable features is the monumental white-and-blue azulejo panel that covers one of the outside walls. This was created by Silvestro Silvestri and depicts the legendary founding of the Carmelite order as a community of hermits on Mount Carmel, in Israel. Insider, there are seven lavish gilt altars, the work of sculptor Francisco Pereira Campanha, as well as a number of fine oil paintings.
Joined by a very narrow house, the older Igreja das Carmelitas next door (meant for Carmelite nuns) was completed in 1628 in a combination of Classical and Baroque styles. It is now part of a barracks.
t Igreja do Carmo, noted for the white-and-blue azulejos on its exterior
Picture Perfect
Walk down the very steep steps of Escada dos Guindais, alongside the Funicular dos Guindais, to snap the Ponte de Dom Luís I and Vila Nova de Gaia.
This museum is one of Porto’s most intriguing spaces. As well as displaying photography and temporary exhibitions, it also gives visitors a fascinating insight into the building’s former incarnation as the city’s tribunal and prison.
The prison opened in 1767 and was so large that it had its own hospital and residences for its guards. Prisoners were put on different floors depending on their crimes: serious offenders were in grim dungeons while “respectable” prisoners were allowed spacious cells on the top floor.
The former cells and communal spaces are now used as evocative backdrops for temporary photographic exhibitions. There is also a display of historic cameras and photographic equipment on the top floor.
A1 ⌂ Rua Dom Manuel II # 8am–9pm daily (to 7pm Oct–Mar)
Inspired by the Crystal Palace of London’s Great Exhibition in 1851, Porto’s own crystal palace was begun in 1861. The steel and glass structure of the original was replaced in the 1950s by the Pavilhão Rosa Mota, an ungainly shape dubbed “the half-orange”.
The gardens themselves are the star attraction here. They are truly a lovely place to walk around, with peacocks roaming the lawns, avenues of lime trees, a rose garden with fountains and wonderful views of the river.
Concerts are occasionally held inside the palace, or in the open air, and the leisure gardens are enlivened by a fair at festa time.
Porto’s nickname is “Invicta” because it was never conquered during the War of the Two Brothers.
B1 ⌂ Rua Dom Manuel II # 10am–6pm Tue–Sun ¢ 1 Jan, Easter, 1 May, 25 Dec ∑ museusoaresdosreis.pt
t Admiring a painting in the Museu Soares dos Reis
The elegant Carrancas Palace, built in the 18th century, has been a Jewish textile workshop, a royal abode and a military headquarters. In 1809, Porto was in French hands, and Marshal Soult and his troops were quartered here. They were ousted in a surprise attack by Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, who then calmly installed himself at the marshal’s dinner table.
Today, the palace provides an appropriate setting for an outstanding museum, named after António Soares dos Reis, Portugal’s leading 19th-century sculptor. Pride of place goes to the display of Portuguese art. This includes paintings by the 16th-century master Frey Carlos and the Impressionist Henrique Pousão. Also hung here are landscapes of Porto by the French artist Jean Pillement (1728 –1808).
The star sculpture exhibit, O Desterrado (The Exile), is Soares dos Reis’ own marvel of pensive tension in marble, completed in 1874. Further sections display Portuguese pottery, Limoges enamels, porcelain and decorative art. Historical exhibits include an appealing 15th-century silver bust of São Pantaleão, patron saint of Porto.
Experience Porto
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eat Cantinho do Avillez Renowned Portuguese chef José Avillez’s outstanding restaurant serves innovative cuisine at highly affordable prices. D3 ⌂ Rua Mouzinha da Silveira 166 ∑ cantinhodoavillez.pt ¡¡ ¡ The Yeatman The food at this hotel’s restaurant is every bit as memorable as its sublime views of the city. Each dish is accompanied by fine wine. E5 ⌂ Rua do Choupelo, Vila Nova da Gaia ∑ the-yeatman-hotel.com ¡¡¡ |