2024 Portugal: Porto - Foz Douro Beach Area

For the last of our five days spent in Porto, my husband Rich and I changed our minds several times regarding what we wanted to do.  We considered taking a train for a day trip to visit various little towns in the Douro Valley but decided against this since we would spend most of our time traveling to and fro.  In the end, we decided to visit the Foz do Douro beach area in west Porto where the Douro River meets the Atlantic Ocean.  Since we had not included the famous beaches of Portugal’s Algarve region on our trip itinerary, this seemed like a good local compromise.

We picked up the number 500 bus from Sao Bento, since that route that would hug the Douro River for most of the ride, which gave us great views as we headed towards the beach.  Once there, we planned to walk north along the coastline, passing by parks (jardim), forts (forte), beaches (praias), lighthouses (farolim/farol) on jetties.  We also hoped to stop at a beachside café or bar/lounge for a drink and snack as part of our tour of this area.

Imagine our delight when our bus arrived and it turned out to be a double-decker bus.  We scrambled to the top level and claimed a window seat near the front, making sure to pick the side that would be closest to the Douro River.  We passed by sites that we had visited on previous days including Bolsa Palace and Praça do Infante D. Henrique but seeing the buildings and sculptures from our lofty perch gave us a whole different perspective.  As we drove parallel to the Douro River, we had great views of the parklands, walking and cycling paths that sat between the water and our thoroughfare.

We got off the bus at the stop Passeio Alegre, next to a small spit of land jutting out towards the Douro River. Here we found several historic sites that reflect Porto’s marine history.  A tiny historic lighthouse named “Farolim da Cantareira” consists of a 6-metre-tall red and white pole with a ladder leading to a platform and a lantern that shines a light with a range of 9 nautical miles.  Originally built in the 18th Century, this lighthouse helped guide vessels arriving from the Atlantic until it was deactivated in 2007. It stands in front of the São Miguel-o-Anjo Lighthouse, which was built inside a chapel in 1528 and considered the oldest lighthouse in Portugal.  In the same area is an old tidal gauge (Marégrafo da Foz do Douro) that measured and recorded the height and variation of tides over back in the 19th Century.  The gauge consists of a small building that housed a float connected to a recording device and a cylinder that rotated at the pace set by a clock.  The building isolated the float from wave actions, currents and winds.  Finally, a sculpture of an anchor and ship steering wheel acts as a monument to Porto’s marine history.  As we were surveying this area, we spotted the historic Line 1 Tram dating back to 1930s that runs from Ribeira to Foz Douro.  We would be riding on a similar type tram in a few days when we arrived in Lisbon.

This area around Foz Douro is known as Foz Velha and is considered one of the most the affluent parts of Porto.  Rua do Passeio Alegre is lined with massive houses and buildings with interesting architectural features and stunning views of the river and nearby parks.  We saw structures with turrets, gingerbread trims, ornate ocular and Bay windows, decorative wrought ironwork, Art Deco styled buildings and even one shaped like a castle or fort with crenulated towers that was turned into a private school which ran until 2017.

Jardim do Passeio Alegre is a beautiful public garden located at the western end of the Douro River where it meets the Atlantic Ocean.  The picturesque 19th century garden was designed by landscape architect Émile David in romantic style and spans 4.19 hectares.  It features tree-lined paths including palm trees, exotic trees, shrubs and flowers, several ponds and fountains with sculptures in them including a granite fountain from the former Convent of Sao Francisco.

Marking the eastern entrance of Jardim do Passeio Alegre are two 12.6 metres tall,18th century obelisks that were originally designed for the gardens of Quinta da Predela, a 17th century estate and winery in Porto.  Also found in the park are Art Nouveau styled public restrooms housed in a 1910 structure decorated with ornate tiles, with some of the original English toilets and sinks still in place.  There is also a café, a bandstand used for events and performances and even a mini-putt golf course.

Exiting the west end of the park, we followed the Promenade Foz do Douro boardwalk along the river until we reached a pair of granite jetties, each with a lighthouse at the end of it.  On the first, longer jetty is an orange and white striped lighthouse which Google Maps identifies as Farolim da Barra do Douro.  The second lighthouse on the shorter jetty is more famous.  Farolim de Felgueiras is a hexagonal-shaped, 32-feet tall lighthouse built in 1886.  Its red lantern once emitted a signal every 5 seconds before it was decommissioned in 2009 although its foghorn is still active.

We walked up the first jetty, mesmerized by the huge waves crashing into its break wall with any overflow water spilling out slits on the sides.  There were a few people who dared to walk right up to the lighthouse and although the waves rose many times above them, the break wall seemed to push the water straight up and then down again so the people were not getting drenched or swept away.  We watched the waves crash for several minutes before I decided to try to approach the lighthouse.  What I didn’t realize was that occasionally a rogue wave would miss the outer wall and roll along until it hit the side of the pier.  If that happened, then a huge volume of water would drench the entire walkway and anyone standing in its path.  I saw a large wave approach and jumped back, missing being soaked by mere seconds.  After that, I sheepishly retreated further back to where Rich and a hoard of other tourists stood, safely taking photos and videos of the waves.

We soon turned our attention to the second jetty which attracted even larger, more dramatic waves.  Once again, some fearless soul was standing right beside the Farolim de Felgueiras lighthouse, which made for great photos since his tiny outline highlighted how massive the waves were in comparison.  We had so much fun watching these waves that we ended up spending almost an hour here.  As a result, we did not get as far north as we had planned before needing to return to central Porto for our dinner reservations, but it was worth it!

The water rushes in between the two jetties and starts to dissipate as it approaches the shore where there is a sandy beach.  We watched as one hearty local braved the elements and went for a swim, getting closer to the swirling waters than would have been in our comfort zone.  His female companion looked on from the beach, but did not look prepared to rescue him if required.

Finally tearing ourselves away from the hypnotic waves, we continued our way north along the coastline which was now adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean.  We passed by Forte de São João Baptista, a 16th-century stone fortification that overlooks the massive seawall and the lighthouses. Constructed between 1570-1653, the fort was commissioned to defend Porto from pirates and enemy ships.  We continued along the Promenade Foz do Douro walkway which rose gently in elevation as it ran parallel to Praia dos Ingleses (English Beach) below. This beach consists of 86 meters of fine-grained sand bounded by large rock formations on either end.  From our path, we were able to look down at the beach and watch the rolling waves coming in from the Atlantic.  The water was too rough for swimming but a few people did try to dip their toes in and avoid (often unsuccessfully) being splashed by one of the larger waves.  One man stood bravely (foolishly?) on a large rocky mound taking a selfie while the waves crashed against it.

Sitting right on the edge of the beach with stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean, Restaurante Praia da Luz is a cool restaurant and beach bar that offers innovative interpretations of traditional Portuguese cuisine as curated by chef Luís Américo.  The establishment includes an open-air terrace cafeteria bar and an indoor restaurant which is accessible either from Rua Coronel Raúl Peres or from the beach.  The outdoor terrace and deck have chaise lounges, couches, dining tables and chairs and covered sections from which you can have a drink or snacks while enjoying the seascape.

This was the perfect location for us to rest our feet and get some refreshments.  Luckily, we were able to snag a table on the terrace where we could enjoy watching the Atlantic Ocean while we dined.  Since we already had dinner reservations, we settled for ordering a few snacks and cocktails.  We shared fried cod fritters with dill mayonnaise, spicy tuna in olive oil and green olives while sipping a passionfruit pisco sour for me and white port with tonic for Rich.

After our snack break, we continued our northward trek and reached the next beach called Praia do Molhe. Here, we found the Pérgola da Foz, an iconic concrete pergola constructed around 1930 in neoclassical style and painted a light golden-yellow hue that appears to change colours with varying degrees of sunlight.  This is known to be a great location to watch the sun set. but on this day, the weather had suddenly turned.  The sunshine we experienced earlier in the day was replaced by a thick mist so dense that we could hardly see any structures ahead of us or out into the ocean.  At the same time the winds picked up and the waves grew even stronger than before.  We quickened our pace, concerned that we would be caught in a deluge as there had been no rain in the forecast, so we had not brought any umbrellas or raingear on this excursion.

Then just as quickly, the fog lifted, the winds died down and the sun came out again before we reached the end of our walk.  This climate reminded me of the old joke told when in Banff, Alberta where the weather changes constantly and dramatically.  "If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes." Following the beach path, we passed by a few more beach-side bars at the beach Praia do Homem do Leme as well as the sculpture “Homem do Leme” (Man at Helm) depicting a mariner at the steering wheel of his ship.  Finally, we reached a set of stairs that brought us back to street level at the north end of Jardins da Avenida Montevideu, a lengthy park that spans about 6.8 acres.  Here we would catch the bus back to the Ribeira district for our dinner plans.  From our bus stop, we could see Forte São João Baptista, another fort built in the 16th to 17th centuries to protect Porto from enemy attack.  Defensive walls were built around existing structures including the Church of S São João Baptista, the chapel of São Miguel-o-Anjo and the residence of the Bishop of Viseu.  Through the centuries, many modifications were made to the fort including the addition of four ramparts and a neoclassical portal with a drawbridge.  It is too bad we did not have time to visit either this fort or the previous one that we saw at the start of our day.

Our dinner that night was at Cozinha das Flores, an award-winning restaurant led by acclaimed chef Nuno Mendes that offers unique, new spins on northern Portuguese cuisine.  The restaurant has a modern, cosmopolitan ambiance with an open kitchen that exposes a wood-fired hearth where large cuts of meats are grilled.  We sat inside since it was getting chilly at night, but the outdoor patio seating would have allowed us to be entertained by the street performers in Largo de Sao Domingos where the eatery is located.  We did come across a guitar playing singer after dinner as we headed back to our rental apartment.

Our meal lived up to the hype as it was not only delicious and beautifully plated but also innovative in terms of ingredients and dishes.  We started off with a Jerusalem artichoke tart topped with grilled pumpkin seeds, grilled local spider crab “donuts” and flame-torched amberjack fish topped with herbal sauce and seasonal citrus.  For mains, we had the grilled John Dory fish with charred summer cucumbers and fish roe sauce and the grilled fillet of beef with grilled onions, bone marrow and walnuts.  For dessert, I selected a beautifully plated Glorinha which came as layers of phyllo pastry stuffed with with orange blossom ice cream and topped with colourful edible flowers.  Rich chose a milk dessert made from fried, sweetened skimmed milk.   This was a nice way to end our five days stay in Porto.

2024 Portugal: Porto - Serralves Estate and Contemporary Art Museum

 

To get to the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, we used Google Maps and found that the “207 bus” heading west would let us off in front of our destination and determined that the 9:20am bus should get us there by the museum’s 10am opening time.  We scouted out the location of the bus stop ahead of time, arrived slightly ahead of the schedule and were happy when the bus came more or less as expected.  This gave us the false impression that the bus schedules were relatively reliable in Porto.  Waiting for the bus to take us back to our accommodations, we learned that this was often not true (and even less so in Lisbon!).

On our return trip, despite Google Maps indicating when the next bus would arrive, no bus showed up for the next 3 scheduled times.  After waiting over an hour, the bus finally came and soon we experienced what might cause these delays.  The bus routes often involve the very skilled drivers to make extremely tight turns onto narrow streets with mere inches to spare.  On one such manoeuvre, our bus was thwarted by an illegally parked car that was too close to the corner and blocked the turn.  The passengers looking out the window (including us) actually shouted at the bus driver to stop since she was just about to hit the car. As the bus driver and several passengers jumped off to survey the situation, the rest of us sat helplessly on the bus.  At one point I thought that some burly passengers were considering lifting the car out of the way.  After being trapped for about 20 minutes, the bus driver decided that she would try to make the perilous turn.  Another 10 minutes later after inching back and forth repeatedly, she finally got free and the bus continued its route to much applause from the appreciative riders.  With such challenges, plus traffic jams and driver shortages, it is no wonder that the bus schedules are a suggestion at best.  Luckily this did not happen on the way to the museum when we had timed entry tickets.  We had no time commitments on the way back, so the whole affair was rather exciting.

The Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art resides on the Serralves Estate, which consists of an 18-hectare park with various formal, floral and vegetable gardens, vast meadows, tree-lined woodlands with birch and beech groves as well as more exotic trees, a working farm with animals, a small lake, an Art Deco villa and Chapel, outdoor sculptures scattered throughout and a treetop walkway.  On the day that we visited, it was the weekend of the annual Autumn Festival (Festa do Outono), a free event held on the open green spaces that featured art and cultural displays, music and live performances, interactive workshops and activities for the whole family.  Guided tours of the park focused on biodiversity and environmental awareness.  The attendance for the festival made it quite busy on the grounds but luckily the festival did not include the museum so it was not crowded in there.

We started off by strolling through the park where multiple permanent sculptures can be found. Olafur Eliasson’s “The Curious Vortex” (2023) is a stainless-steel pavilion shaped as a swirling vortex resembling spinning masses of wind and water or perhaps the funnel cloud of a tornado.  Located in the Sundial Garden, Anish Kapoor’s Sky Mirror (2018) is a concave dish of stainless-steel that reflects the surroundings and the sky.  Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen collaborated to create Plantoir (2002), a 24-foot-high red gardener’s trowel with its tip imbedded into the earth that is typical of the larger-than-life sculptures that Oldenburg created in the image of common objects.  Aristide Maillol’s bronze sculpture “The Draped Bather” (1921) is one of the few sculptures that was not created in the last few decades but is of the same era relative to the Serralves Villa that we would see later in the day.  Possibly a temporary exhibit, the installation Boiling Point is an interactive video display that addresses man’s unsustainable water use and the rapid depletion of natural water reserves.  A glass of water appears on a large LED screen which is motion-activated.  The water will either boil with increasing intensity to reflect global warming or become progressively polluted to comment on industrial contamination.

The Modernist-styled building containing Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art was open in 1999 with 4500 square metres of exhibition space in 14 galleries.  Typically, three temporary exhibitions are on display in these galleries.  A recently created space named the Álvaro Siza Wing now allows rotating pieces from the museum’s almost 5000 works from its permanent collection to be displayed as well.  The permanent collection is focused on works from 1960s and onward by both Portuguese and international artists.  Serralves is now the most visited museums in Portugal.

The Serralves permanent collection includes an eclectic set of multi-disciplinary works spanning paintings, sculptures, installations, artists’ books, performing arts, architecture and music.  The subset of art from the permanent collection that is currently on display in the new Álviro Siza Wing is weird and invocative.  Gretta Sarfaty’s "Transformation II" morphs her own image to create multiple grotesquely distorted representations of her open mouth.  Silvestre Pestana mixes black and white photography with white, fluorescent lights to create dance-like images that result in part 3-D installation and part performative art.  Paula Rego’s "Homage to Dubuffet" imitates the unconventional aesthetics and bold colours of French artist Jean Dubuffet’s Art Brut style but adds her own complex narratives and metamorphosis that blends human and animal forms.  Tucked in a corner between two walls, Ana Jotta’s work combines what looks like a wall hanging made from thick intertwined wool with a whimsical ink drawing of a female figure along with written words in Portuguese that translate to “What else do I do with this wall?”.

One of the major exhibitions running during our visit to Serralves Museum was titled Pre/Post, which commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Portugal’s “Carnation Revolution” that occurred on April 25, 1974.  This is the date that the decades-long authoritarian regime “Estado Novo” was overthrown by a nearly bloodless military coup.  Established in 1933 and led by António de Oliveira Salazar, this dictatorship limited civil liberties, enforced strict traditional Portuguese Catholicism, espoused Nationalism, ran sham elections to stay in power, and tortured/imprisoned those in opposition.  The exhibition includes art created between 1970 to 1977, reflecting on thoughts and feelings of artists before and after what they call Liberdade or “Freedom Day”.  The works seem to focus on distinct themes including images of oppression before the revolution, celebration and the impact on other countries after the revolution, imagery of the carnations, and backlash against years of censorship.

While there are few curated descriptions for most of the works in this exhibit, several pieces seem to reflect upon the oppression faced by people who tried to oppose the Estado Nova regime.  A piece made to resemble a full-sized hooded prisoner hangs from the ceiling, while a cartoon-like acrylic painting on wood depicting a body behind bars seemingly wrapped in a straight-jacket is titled “Political Prisoner”.  Two sculptural works depict groups of small, painted, plaster figures trapped in plexiglass containers.  One group is tied up with rope while the people in the other have black hoods over their heads.  One of a series of silk screens displays the green and red colours of the Portuguese flag with white chains interspersed with the faces of possible political captives.  A seemingly metaphorical work depicts a see-through bird cage with a black bird seen from one side and a white dove of peace on the other.  These pieces and more may reflect the persecution suffered by the people before the revolution.

There are many posters, drawings, photographs and paintings of people celebrating the liberation of Portugal with raised fists and references to April 25, 1974.  One of the most interesting paintings on this theme is not painted by a Portuguese artist, but rather by Greek artist Nikias Skapinakis.  His work titled “Delacroix on April 25 in Athens” refers to the date of the Carnation Revolution, which served as inspiration for Greece to oust its own military junta in July of the same year.  French painter Eugène Delacroix’s famous 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People is referenced both in the Greek painting’s title and also in the image of Liberty waving a red flag in the centre of the work.  On the right, joyous people wave the blue and white flag of Greece. Portugal’s Carnation Revolution triggered a domino effect in Europe and Africa, leading many countries to move towards democracy and self-rule.

The name “Carnation Revolution” arose after the successful coup in Portugal while soldiers and civilians alike were celebrating on the streets.  A restaurant worker named Celeste Caeiro offered carnations to a group of soldiers who put them in the barrels of their rifles.  The gesture was repeated by more citizens and soon more soldiers were displaying carnations.  Black and white photographs from the time reflect this symbolic imagery, as do many works of art that depict red carnations.  Depiction of the flowers came to represent the peaceful transition to democracy with surprisingly few casualties, the widespread civilian support and became a symbol of hope and rebirth for the nation.

Another subset of the art in the Pre/Post exhibit could be seen as a release from and backlash against decades of censorship, repression and government-imposed Catholic beliefs.  As a result, there were many works that displayed overt nudity and sexuality as well as subversive irreverence towards church and state.  An example of this is a large sculpture by Rosa Fazenda titled “A Freia”.  Another work is painted with the colours of the Portuguese flag but a naked rear-end replaces the flag’s central crest.

Given the lack of curatorial descriptions with only the title, artist, creation date and medium provided for each piece, it was difficult to interpret what some of the works refer to.  Some of the art that I liked the best fell into this category.  The title of Querubim Lapa’s 1974 painting translates to “Assault on the Embassy by Urban Guerrillas” but it is not clear if this refers to the Carnation Revolution or perhaps the decolonization of African nations that occurred at the same time?  Emilia Nadal’s work consists of a paint depicting “The Ideal Wife” has “1.000 $00” scrawled across a blond woman’s face. It is unclear whether this is meant to be a price placed on the wife?  The writing is in English on one side and Portuguese on the other.  Nadal is known for challenging societal norms and expectations placed on women, but what is the significance of the paint can and the scrawled price tag on this satirical piece?  I also liked the gesso plaster model for a monument that seems to depict a “fat-cat” businessman being helped on with his jacket while a winged angel clings to his briefcase.  There must be a message here but I am not quite sure what it is?  Similarly, I wasn’t sure how the 3-D installation of a photobooth titled “Photoquik”, made of collage, printed paper and acrylic on wood, fit in with the overall theme of the exhibit.  I was also really drawn to Francisco Relógio’s vibrant painting titled “May 1”.  I googled to find out that this date is Portugal’s Workers’ Day or Labour Day, which was harshly repressed during the Salazar regime.

I found this exhibition to be emotionally poignant and insightful, using both beautiful and provocative art forms to instruct me upon a historically important event that happened in my lifetime, but which I previously knew very little about.

The second major exhibition is a huge retrospective of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s works titled “From 1945 to Now”.  The items on exhibit cover Kusama’s output from her first drawings as a teenager to her recent immersive mirrored exhibits.  We were lucky enough to catch the last day of this show.  Because we had already attended a comprehensive Kusama exhibition in 2018 back home in Toronto and had waited in long lineups to get into a number of her Infinity Rooms, we were not willing to do the same at the Serralves where there was just one Infinity room and the lineup spanned a long hallway. Bypassing this, we continued on with the rest of the displays which included some of the familiar polka-dotted soft sculptures shaped like the ends of snakes and phallic symbols that were similar to ones we saw in Toronto.  These are part of her Accumulations series which deals with repetition and replication.

The rest of the exhibits at Serralves were mostly works from her vast oeuvre that were new to us, which made them more exciting to see.  Kusama says that the Accumulation series was initially inspired by her memories of the innumerable white stones sitting along a riverbed by her childhood home.  Although her 2019 piece consisting of shapes made from embossed stainless steel that are laid across the floor of a room is called “Clouds”, they seemed more like the river stones described from her childhood to me.  Another variation on the Accumulations theme consists of small stuffed sacs made from shiny silver fabric which she adorned on furniture, clothing, shoes, other common objects and decorated entire rooms with.  Some of the sacs were shaped again like the river stones that she described, while some looked like gloves with fingers. We had seen photographs of this design in the Toronto exhibit but it was much more impactful seeing the works in person.  A large installation titled Self-Obliteration consisted of brightly painted store mannequins standing by tables and chairs with cups, saucers, teapots and flowerpots on the table.  All the objects were covered with her trademark repetitive polka dots which according to Kusama “symbolizes the merging of the self with the universe”.  Several fabric tunics were decorated with oil paints.

Several of her giant sculptures seemed to reference nature including what looked like a giant red flower laid across the ground and three oddly shaped plants or trees.  In the middle of another room is a sculpture that consists of what looks like a chicken or rooster surrounded by oval-shaped objects that might be eggs although one of them looks like a small cob of corn?  This work was in a room surrounded by brightly hued paintings that were part of Kusama’s “My Eternal Soul” series depict women’s faces with their eyes and lips morphing into leaves, flowers and other botanical forms.  The psychedelic images serve as a form of self-therapy for Kusama, helping her address “hallucinations and psychosomatic anxiety” that she has experienced since childhood.

At the start of the exhibit are a series of portraits and self-portraits created between the 1950s through the 1980s.  These images explore themes of identify, individuality, infinity and unity with her environment.  Rather than depicting her outer physical appearance, her self-portraits reflect her emotional and psychological states of being using varying styles through the years.

After touring the art museum, we walked across Serralves Park toward the Casa do Serralves, passing by a small lake that was incorporated into the overall design of the grounds and gardens by landscape architect Jacques Gréber.  The lake is surrounded by trees and is home to ducks, geese and other wildlife.  Sitting atop a portion of the lake is a large number of reflective silver balls in a triangular formation.  It is not certain whether this is a temporary sculpture that is an extension of the Kusama exhibit, but it would definitely fit in with her other works.  Continuing on from the lake, a set of vine-covered man-made grottos provide a scenic view of the lake and form the base of a rocky hill that leads up to the villa.

After climbing a series of windy, stone steps that traverse up the incline from the lake, we reached the plateau where we caught our first glimpse of the “Central Parterre”, a stunning formal garden with water features leading to the villa, heavily influenced by French garden aesthetics of the time.  Designed by Jacques Gréber, the garden acts as a grand and symmetrical central axis leading to the property with a series of green Azulejo-tiled fountains and water basins that provide contrast to the orange-hued gravel surrounding them.  Plants and shrubbery flank some of the basins while manicured lawns line both sides of the parterre.  The geometrical shapes and lines of the garden mirror the Art Deco façade of the villa.  At the top of the gently sloping garden, just before reaching the villa is yet another man-made series of “grottos” that allow you to look back out upon the vista.

The Serralves Villa (Casa de Serralves) was built between 1925-1944 for Carlos Alberto Calbra, 2nd Count of Vizela) and is considered to be one of the most notable examples of Art Deco Streamline Moderne architecture in Portugal.  The pink villa, designed by architects José Marques da Silva and Charles Siclis, consists of a basement kitchen, pantry and service area, the ground floor featuring the grand hall, living and dining rooms, and the first-floor bedrooms.  The interior was decorated by renowned European designers including Émile Jacques Ruhlmann, René Lalique who created the skylight above the first-floor hallway, and Edgar Brandt who produced the gorgeous wrought-iron gate on the ground floor.  Beautiful finishings can be found throughout the house including the door handles, light switches, vent grilles, crown moulding, parquet flooring and more.  The distinctive salmon pink colour of the building earned it the local nickname “Cor de Rosa” (Pink House).

The original furniture in the Serralves villa was sold at auction prior to the estate being taken over by the Portuguese State so the rooms are mostly empty except for permanent fixtures such as fireplaces and mantles, built-in wood-paneled cabinets, light fixtures and mirrors.  The rooms that resemble most how they looked back when the manor was last occupied would be the bathrooms and there are two very beautiful ones in Art Deco style.  The smaller one is a classic black and white bathroom with the sink, deep soaker tub and shower rods all in a sleek, shiny black surface while the floor tiles are a contrasting white with black accent mosaics.  But the highlight is the stunning pink Master Bathroom designed by Alfred Porteneuve, nephew of Émile Ruhlmann, who took over after Rulhmann passed away before the interior design of the villa could be completed.  Pink Portuguese marble was used for the walls, flooring, bathtub and sink, with brass-edged mirrors over the tub and sink.  A large window lets light shine in to make the marble sparkle.  The bathroom is set in a circular layout like a clock with the tub at 12 O'Clock relative to the bedroom entrance while the window is at 2 O'Clock.  Mirrored doors conceal cabinets including a safe for jewelry while a second door hides the toilet and bidet.  The pink bathroom is the perfect accent room to complement the pink house.

In addition to the gorgeous architecture of Casa do Serralves, the villa was taken over by an immersive art exhibition that is a retrospective of the 20 years joint output by Portuguese artists João Pedro Vale and Nuno Alexandre Ferreira who are both artistic and life partners.  Temporarily renaming the villa as “Casa Vale Ferreira”, almost every room in the house is filled with photographs, video, sculptures, collages and installations that champion the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQIA+ community, challenge societal norms and reflect on Portuguese history and culture.  The artists seem to use themselves as the models in their photo compositions as in an image where they are dressed as clowns, possibly for a circus themed exhibit that they ran in 2017 and one where they seem to be taking part in a wedding.  As part performance art, part political statement and part personal celebration, the artists held their own wedding in the Serralves Chapel on the opening night of the exhibition.  A photograph depicting a group of 15 seated nude men with silk clothes draped over their privates has the feeling of a Greek Bacchanalia.  The wordy title of the piece “It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Situation in Which He Lives” is inspired by a 1971 documentary by the same name, depicting the secrecy and oppression suffered by gay men in Berlin during that timeframe.

Vale and Ferreira reimagine locations where gays might meet including a gymnasium with a trampoline made from fabric and sequins, a lightweight, Styrofoam and acrylic barbell painted with red lipstick with the words “Beefcake” embossed on the “weights”, a piece sassily titled “Lick My Balls” consisting of two basketballs in a basketball net, and a weight machine that seems to be totally covered with chewing gum.  It is said that the gum was chewed by the artists themselves and refers to the AIDS epidemic when saliva was thought to be the source of infection.  A 2018 installation titled “Vagrants” consists of a circular metal old-styled public urinal (pissoir), which is covered with handwritten graffiti including verses and quotes from queer Portuguese authors.  “Glory holes” drilled into the metal stalls allowed gay men to engage in sex acts.  The title “Vagrants” refers to the 1912 decree criminalizing male homosexuality, which was not repealed until 1982.

In the grand foyer of the villa is the installation titled “The Tearoom” where almost 100 jackets hang on large coatracks.  Each jacket decorated by the artists in punk style with patches, lace, studs, decals and other accessories with words and images that pay tribute to noted LGBTQIA+ artists, musicians and personalities in history who fought for equal rights including Freddie Mercury, Emily Dickenson, Robert Maplethorpe, General Idea and Félix González-Torres to name a few that I recognized.  Visitors are encouraged to try on the jackets and even wander around the other exhibits while wearing them.  By donning a jacket, the visitor is supposed to temporarily channel the gay icon and become a “spontaneous activist in service of the causes defended by the community”.  The term “tearoom” is a slang for public toilet where gay sex occurs.

A series of very meta works titled “Erased” use erasers to spell out the words “Erased” and “Delete”.  It contemplates on the idea of rubbing out or sanitizing people deemed undesirable or marginal, such as the gay community.  A similar set of works spell out “Silence and “Mute” in using what looks like a slew of Q-Tip swabs.  A series depicts a set of jeans, each secured shut, almost like chastity belts, using a padlock, nuts and bolts, and safety pins.  This might refer to the taboo nature of gay sex using esthetics in fashion that have a punk influence, as seen in the jackets display. A large work glove covered with razor blades is titled “Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves”.  It seems to refer to an incident in the early days of the AIDS epidemic when a young nurse went to wipe away the tears of an AIDS patient with her bare hands, just to be chastised by an older nurse.  The phrase came to represent the fear, stigma and lack of compassion that many AIDS patients faced.

A sculpture on the grown depicting Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz consists of her iconic blue and white gingham dress and shoes whose soles are etched with her famous words “There’s No Place Like Home”.  Judy Garland, who played Dorothy was considered a relatable gay icon because of her own troubled life, and the term “Friend of Dorothy” was a code for homosexuals to recognize each other without fear of prosecution.  Her death in 1969 is said to have added to the highly charged atmosphere that eventually led to the Stonewall Riots.  An accompanying display hung against a large window in the foyer consists of a string of ruby slippers.  A similar sculpture sprawled across the floor in a different room depicts Scarlet O’Hara from the movie “Gone With the Wind” with her famous green dress that she created from window curtains.  Vivien Leigh was also considered to be a gay icon.  Back on the ground floor, “Heroes of the Sea” consists of a large two-storey lighthouse made of sand that reflects Portugal’s maritime history with the use of sand reflecting the fragility of the nation’s identities and cultures.  Considering the overlying themes of the rest of the exhibition, it is possible that the lighthouse can also represent a phallic symbol.

In the series titled “Mercy”, the artists used silver foil candy wrappers and packages of Portuguese Sauve cigarette cartons to decorate Styrofoam and cardboard molds in the recreation of Portuguese Crown Jewels that were stolen from the Hague Museum in Netherlands in 2002 where they were on display for an exhibition in European treasures.  The treasures were never recovered and a Dutch insurance company paid Portugal six million in restitution.  The detail in these works show the skill and manual dexterity of this artist duo.  From afar, the sparkling foil wrappers shining against the natural light from the windows make you think you are looking at the real things.

In a side wing of the house with an open entrance that was accessible from the outside, we were able to climb up the stairs to look out the large round window.  Continuing further to the top of the staircase, there is actually an iron-rung ladder leading up to an opening in the ceiling where the truly brave could stand on the top rung and survey the surroundings.  I made it up to the second-last rung and then lost my nerve.  The little girl behind me who was waiting to ascend had no such fears!  In addition to the main house, an equally pink Art Deco Chapel sat nearby.  Dating back to the 19th century, the interior of the chapel was kept intact when the Serralves Villa was built, but the chapel was given a new Art Deco exterior including a new belfry to match the main house.  This is where Vale and Ferreira held their wedding and also placed an exhibit consisting of a self-playing piano and music stand, each with neon lights displaying a rotating series of words including “UNDO”.

A “Tree Top Walk” is an elevated, serpentine walkway traversing Serralves Park from high up amongst the tree canopies.  It provides a unique view of the nature, art and architecture of the estate and the biodiversity of the park in terms of different types of flora and fauna.  There are over 230 native and exotic varieties of woodland plants and trees, as well as wildlife and farm animals including donkeys, horses, sheep, roosters, cows and more.  Open since 2019, the walkway is made from both new wood from the forest and recycled woods for guardrails and non-structural components.

In a separate building on the Serralves estate, the “Casa do Cinema Manoel de Oliveira” is a space dedicated to cinema and in particular, honours its namesake, filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira (1908-2015), a renowned Portuguese filmmaker who is considered one of the most important and influential directors in European cinema.  He directed over 32 films and won numerous awards at the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals.  The Caso do Cinema has a permanent exhibition, documentation centre and film screenings honouring de Oliveira, as well as rotating temporary exhibits, film retrospective screenings, conferences and educational programs.

Although it was far away from the heart of Porto and a pain to get to and back, this off-the-beaten-path gem was one of the highlights of our 5-day stay in Porto. It addressed our love of art, architecture (Art Deco in particular) and history while giving us some lovely nature walks through beautiful gardens and tree-lined paths.  Had it not been so crowded due to the Autumn Festival, we would have spent even more time exploring more of the grounds.

2024 Portugal: Porto - Pedestrian Streets, Shopping, Architecture

Central Porto has so many streets (some pedestrian-only) filled with interesting shops, tasty eateries, unique churches, historic squares and buildings with distinctive architecture that it took us three days of wandering around the neighbourhoods to even get a flavour of what was available around us.  We had checked out the streets on and immediately adjacent to our accommodations on our first day in Porto so we widened our circumference as we continued our explorations slightly further afield.

Located just east of Sao Bento Train station, Batalha Square is a historic public square where “batalha” means battle in Portuguese, referring specifically to a 10th Century conflict where Moorish forces defeated local inhabitants. Today the area, which was made pedestrian-only in the 1980s, is surrounded by shops, cafes and historical buildings.  The Batalha Palace was a stately home built in the 18th-century in Baroque and Neoclassical styles with a historical insignia and coats of arms on its façade reflecting the lineage of the prominent Portuguese families who occupied it. During the Siege of Porto (1832-34), it was turned into a field hospital.  Serving as a post office through the 20th Century, the building underwent a major renovation and was converted into the NH Collection Porto Batalha Hotel in 2010.  As part of that renovation, the façade has been painted red so that from afar, the building no longer resembles the original stately urban palace.

A statue of King Pedro V was erected in 1866 and sits in front of the palace.  Nicknamed “The Hopeful”, Pedro V reigned from 1853-1861 before dying of Typhoid Fever at age 24.  In his short reign, the beloved monarch was credited for promoting modernizations in Portugal including advancements in infrastructure, new technologies, education and health care.  Other impressive buildings surround the square. The Teatro National San Joao Porto was originally completed in 1798 and rebuilt by 1920 after a 1908 fire destroyed much of it. Over the years, it hosted artistic performances from opera to cinema.  The contemporary Hotel Moov Central sits within the former Art Deco Águia D'Ouro Cinema that was the first Portuguese movie house to integrate sound.  Completed in 1739, the proto-Baroque styled Parish of Saint Ildefonso features over 11,000 azulejo tiles depicting scenes from the life of Saint Ildefonso, as well as two strikingly decorative bell towers.  By contrast, the Art Deco-styled Batalha Theatre looks very modern.  In operation since 1947, the trapezoidal structure contains a 950-seat auditorium and a smaller one seating 135 patrons, as well as several bars and a restaurant.  During the fascist Estado Novo regime, the cinema faced censorship of its decorative artworks.  The building was restored in 2017 and currently functions as the Batalha Centro de Cinema.

Rua Santa Caterina is one of the most popular shopping streets in Porto with both international brands such as Zara and H&M, as well as traditional Portuguese boutiques.  It is pedestrian-only for over 1500 metres from Rua de Passos Manuel to Rua de Guedes de Azevedo, making for a more pleasant experience as shoppers can crisscross at will to check out the shops on both sides of the street.  Street performers and cultural festivals add to the bustle and vibrancy of this area.  At the southern end of Rua Santa Caterina is Livraria Leya na Latina, an iconic bookstore founded in 1949 that has become a cultural landmark because of the green bust of poet Luís de Camões (1524-1580), considered one of the greatest literary figures in Portuguese history.  Beside the bookstore is a ceramics shop selling brightly coloured soup tureens, sugar bowls and other pottery shaped like fruits and vegetables.  We would see many more examples of this throughout Porto and Lisbon.

Kitty-corner to the bookstore is another historic building with fabulous architectural details.  Reis & Filhos was a jewelry store founded in 1880 by António Alves dos Reis.  Its façade features elaborate ironwork and decorative elements depicting floral elements in the Art Nouveau style, as well as the bust of a female wearing jewels and a tiara.  The interior is equally impressive with a gorgeous mural on the ceiling surrounded by an ornate decorative trim.  No longer a jewelry store, this luxurious building has been used for different purposes including a men’s clothing store.  Currently, it is occupied by the company “meia.dúzia flavours of Portugal” which sells tubes of artisanal jams, chocolate creams, sauces, olive pastes and honey.  After tasting several products, we ended up purchasing several tubes including ones containing pumpkin and orange jam, dark chocolate and cherry brandy, and chocolate/orange. Continuing north on Rua Santa Caterina, I fell in love with an intricately formed green ceramic chicken at Casa Othello.  If there was any way to get that home in one piece, or if the store shipped internationally, it would probably be sitting in our wall unit.  Alas, I had to settle for a photo of it.

Rua Santa Caterina is lined with impressive historic buildings including the one housing Marcolino, an official Rolex retailer that sells and services Rolex watches.  The building is painted in the same shade of red as the Batalha Palace.  Across the street, the French retail chain Fnac is located in the historic Art Deco-styled Edifício Palladium.  It has an iconic automaton clock which chimes on the hour while a parade of figurines representing significant people in Portuguese culture emerge.  They include novelist Almeida Garrett, Saint John the Baptist, Prince Henry the Navigator and writer Camilo Branco.  We walked by this building multiple times during our stay in Porto but kept missing the hour when the figures would appear.  Some of the storefronts still display vintage signs including a series of vertical neon-lit blocks forming the word Perfecta for the former Perfecta café, and the retro-looking ADAO sign with sunglasses underneath in front of a eyewear store.  Also found on this street and throughout both Porto and Lisbon are Ale Hop shops that prominently feature a cow in the storefront or peeking out of an upstairs window.  These stores sell trendy clothing, accessories and decorative items which I would not have guessed based on the store name or the cow mascots.  I was expecting either a beer store or a meat shop.

Café Majestic is a historic café open since 1921 that is known for its Art Nouveau architecture with a marble façade adorned with intricate floral motifs. It was designed by architect João Queirós to resemble Parisian cafés of the era.  The interior is also ornate with carved wood mouldings, stylized mirrors and chandeliers.  Our original plan was to have breakfast or lunch in the café but it was always so busy that we could not get it.  We did manage to sneak a photo of the interior while the host who usually blocks the entrance was busy seating patrons.  The Grande Hotel do Porto is found further north on Rua Santa Caterina.  Dating back to 1880, the building’s exterior has a Victorian façade with a fancy portcullis that has a Parisian feel.  The building next to the Grande Hotel has a very impressive stone carving of a lion’s head on one of its central pillars. The Sportino footwear and activewear store has an interesting entryway shaped like a long tunnel while the floor above has a colourful stained glass window advertising Wedo Massage.

The pastéis de nata is a Portuguese delicacy that consists of a flaky pastry shell filled with a rich, creamy egg custard that is then caramelized on top during baking. The creation of the nata is said to date back to the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon where monks invented the treat to use up leftover egg yolks after using the egg whites for starching religious wardrobe.  Prior to the start of our trip to Portugal, Rich claimed that he was going to eat a nata at every shop where they were found.  This turned out to be too aggressive a goal, since the nata was found in almost every bakery and eatery that we passed by.  He did end up eating natas several times including the location in Lisbon that is supposed to produce the most authentic nata based on the secret recipe purchased from the monks after the monastery closed in 1834.  While on Rua Santa Caterina, Rich’s first nata was consumed at Fábrica da Nata, another renowned nata pastry shop.  First, we spent a few minutes watching the production of these custard tarts as the filling was piped into pre-made shells.  When Rich finally tasted his first piping hot Portuguese nata sprinkled with cinnamon, it totally lived up to his expectations.  

 

The Church of Souls (Caela das Almas) is an 18th century chapel that is renowned for the almost 16,000 azulejo tiles covering the entire outer facades of its west and south facing walls.  The tiles were added during renovations in 1929 and depict the death of Saint Francis of Assisi as well as the martyrdom of Saint Catherine.  Smaller images show flying angels and floral ornamentations. The adjoining bell tower, also decorated with tiles, has two levels with the upper level containing balcony and multiple windows.  The interior of the chapel is neoclassical in style with a few less elaborate azulejo tiles along the side walls and a large painting of the ascension of the Lord hanging in the main altar.  There was a service going on when we peeked in, so we were not able to walk around for a closer look.

Just north of the Church of Souls is the contemporary restaurant Gruta which offers unique blend of contemporary Brazilian and Portuguese cuisine with a focus on local seafood caught off the Portuguese coast.  Gruta is known for its all-women staff found in the kitchen, behind the bar and all of the front of the house hostesses and waitresses.  This was one of the reasons that Rich selected this restaurant for lunch.  We had not been thrilled about our experience with traditional Portuguese cuisine on our first day in Porto, but we absolutely loved Gruta’s modern spin on Portuguese/Brazilian cuisine.  We started off with home-made focaccia served with fermented seaweed butter, olive tapenade and fish rillettes as spreads. While it was disconcerting when we first arrived in Portugal to learn that bread and water were extra charges, we gladly paid for this bread as it was a delicious starter in its own right.  For our actual appetizers, we shared a zucchini salad with lemon vinaigrette, mint, fennel, pine nuts and Azores cheese, as well as Gruta’s version of the Fritto di Mare.  In this case, it consisted of tempura-breaded soft- shelled crab, squid and prawns with wasabi pea puree and celeriac pickle.  These dishes were not only delicious and innovative in their ingredient combinations and flavours, but they were also beautifully plated.

For our main courses, we both selected the house speciality, which was the Fish Moqueca.  This is a Brazilian-styled fish stew consisting of a piece of seared sea bass sitting in a soup of made of dendê oil, coconut milk, peppers and tomatoes.  The stew was served with basmati rice topped with cashew nuts and farofa, a Brazilian roasted casava flour.  The desserts turned out to be the most unique of all.  I ordered the “Baba au Porto” which was described as a cake soaked in dry white port wine syrup with caramelized pears and cumaru-flavoured cream.  I did not expect such a beautifully decorated treat that looked like a flower. Rich’s apple tart was less visually stunning but still special because it came with Tawny port-flavoured ice cream.  When in Porto, you must pick any dish that contains port!  As a final complementary treat, we were given little bite-sized almond cakes to end a perfect meal.

The other major pedestrian-only shopping area is Rua das Flores, a historic street established in the 1520s during the reign of King D.Manuel I.  It connects two major squares— Praça de Almeida Garrett to the north (where our apartment resides) and Largo de São Domingos to the south. Over the centuries, Rua das Flores became a prestigious address for local aristocracy and wealthy merchants.  Historical buildings such as the baroque Church of Misericórdia and the art and history Museum of Misericórdia still reside on this street.  But today, it is lined with cafes, restaurants, and interesting boutique shops selling souvenirs and other wares.

Street performers busk on Rua das Flores, including musicians, dancers, living statues, clowns and comedians. Despite all the historical buildings that remain, there is much street art and graffiti found on the façades and sides of buildings, as well as electrical boxes. This makes for an interesting juxtaposition, giving a more gritty, urban vibe to this street than is found on Rua Santa Caterina.

Intersecting the middle of Rua das Flores is Rua dos Caldeireiros, another historic street which dates back to 1234, making it one of the oldest streets in Porto. The Portuguese term “caldeireiros” translates to boilermakers, referencing the concentration of blacksmith shops producing boilers which occupied the street in the 1780s.  Today boutique shops can be found including a small art gallery and wool store, and Projecto Vimoc which sells some edgy artworks and funky t-shirts and clothing as well as souvenirs.  One of the most interesting aspects of this street is the presence of a stop light and retractable post that allows authorized vehicles to enter what is typically a pedestrian-only street, making it a Limited Traffic Zone (LTZ).

On Rua Formosa, the grocery store Perola do Bolhao dates back to 1917 and sells regional cheeses, smoked pork and sausages, dried fruits and candies, Portuguese wines, teas, coffees, spices and more.  The shop is known for its gorgeous Art Nouveau façade which features hand-painted azulejo tiles depicting Native women wearing feathered headdresses and wrapped in blue blankets while holding tea and coffee plants.  Tiles painted with Art Nouveau typeface spell out the name of the store and the words “Cha” (tea) and “Café” (coffee).  A few stores down can be found Comer e Chorar por Mais, a meat and deli store in business for over 100 years.  The name of the store is a popular Portuguese idiom referring to something delicious.  The quaint and crowded shop has a surprisingly beautiful ceiling fan.

On Rua Alexandra Braga is one of the locations of Ginja Mariquinhas, a 60-year-old family business which produces the most famous version of ginja, the cherry based Portuguese liqueur made from sour cherries macerated in a mixture of sugar and aguardente (a type of brandy).  Ginja liquer has a rich ruby colour and intense cherry flavour with hints of cinnamon and cloves.  The interior of this particular store location is beautifully decorated with an azulejo tiled sign depicting the Ginja Mariquinhas logo, birds and flowers covering the front of the sales counter.  A wrought-iron spiral staircase leads to an upper level with seating area comprised of a few tables and stools.  We purchased a couple of frozen ginja slushies and ginja-infused truffles to enjoy and planned to purchase a bottle of ginja from the airport duty-free at the end of our trip.  It was a nice day so we enjoyed our treats at one of the tables outside the shop.

At Praça de Liberdade is McDonald’s Imperial, known as the most beautiful McDonalds location in the world.   It occupies a historic building that once was home to an iconic art deco café called Café Imperial whose interior featured high ceilings, grand crystal chandeliers and vibrant stained-glass art that depicted the coffee growing industry and stylishly dressed patrons sipping from coffee cups.  Above the stained-glass works are silver-coloured friezes depicting robed females from antiquity performing graceful dance moves.  The building was renovated in 1995, restoring all these features and preserving the history of the space while modernizing it for the needs of the fast-food chain.  For the exterior façade, the large bronze eagle logo gracing the front entrance was restored while the McDonalds logo replaced the former Imperial logo.  Unfortunately, the rest of Liberdade Square was boarded up as part of what seems to be a massive construction project to expand the Porto metro system.  All we could see beyond the scaffolding was the top of the sculpture of King Pedro IV on horseback.

Extending north from Praça de Liberdade, Avenida dos Aliados (Avenue of the Allies) is a major thoroughfare that stretches 250 metres and connects the Liberdade square to Praça do General Humberto Delgado where the Porto City Hall is found.  Aliados has one-way northbound and southbound lanes with a central promenade in the middle decorated with sculptures, fountains and water features.  At the southern end of the promenade is an Art Deco-styled sculpture titled “Fountain of Youth” with the carving of a smiling nude girl sitting atop a tall stone base.  The girl’s legs dangle as her feet rest upon one of four bronzed carved faces with waterspouts coming out of their mouths.  The 1929 sculpture, carved by Henrique Moreira who also created the Imperial Café eagle, was controversial during the ultra-conservative Estado Novo regime.  Lining the two sides of Avenida dos Aliados are some massive and very impressive Art Nouveau and Beaux-Arts buildings with multiple large ornate sculptures attached to the façades.  These buildings were originally headquarters for banks and insurance companies as well as luxury hotels and palatial homes.  Today, most of the buildings have been taken over by boutiques and restaurants.

More fountains line the central promenade including the Fonte dos Aliados, featuring a large basin of water with steps leading towards the Porto City Hall.  Installed during a major renovation of the walkway in 2006, the fountain is flanked by trees and seating areas, making it a popular meeting place.  The City Hall is a neoclassical structure with Art Nouveau features which was built between 1920-1955.  It is noted for its intricate granite carvings of female figures that seem to hold up the building and the 70-meter clock tower that dominates the skyline.  The large purple PORTO sign sitting at the base of City Hall seems to reflect a recent trend for many major cities to spell out their names in block letters.  A bronze sculpture of prominent Portuguese writer and politician Almeida Garrett was unveiled in 1968 and sits directly in front of the building.

Heading West from Praça de Liberdade, we encounter Clerigos Tower which is the tallest structure in Porto and can be seen from afar.  Completed in 1763, the Baroque bell tower stands at almost 250 feet with 240 steps leading up to a panoramic view at the top.  We ran out of time to climb the tower but got a good view of it and the surrounding area from the ground.  Across from the tower is a sculpture created in 1979 of António Ferreira Gomes, who served as the Bishop of Porto from 1952 to 1982.  Gomes’ vocal criticism of the Estado Novo dictatorship led to his exile between 1959-1969.  From the Jardim das Oliveiras, an urban garden across from the tower, we found a metal sculpture depicting a large group of tourists taking selfies and toting luggage.  One of the historic trams that date back to 1895 happened to stop in front of the tower to unload and load passengers, so we got a good look at it as well.  

Nearby, the Palácio da Justiça is the main courthouse in Porto containing the Porto District Judicial Court and Court of Appeal. Completed in 1961 in neoclassical and Beaux-Arts styles, the monumental granite building spans 8 floors and covers 3600 square metres.  A 7-metre-tall bronze statue of Justice stands in front of an Art Deco bas-relief depicting ancient scenes of the evolution of justice, from Divine Law to Roman Law. Five smaller statues represent the Sources of Law including Doctrine, Natural Law, Law, Praxis (practical application of learning) and Jurisprudence. Built during the Estado Novo regime, the building has elements mirroring Roman courts including the semi-circular basilica plan, wide staircase and monumental design.

Between the Clerigos Tower and the courthouse is the Jardim da Cordoaria, a beautiful public garden located in an area renamed Campo dos Mártires da Pátria (Field of the Martyrs of the Fatherland) to honour twelve “Martyrs of Freedom” who were executed in the early 1800s for plotting against British control in Portugal.  Unfortunately, the garden was closed for restoration but there was a gap in the fence and we snuck in quickly for some photos of the landscape and sculptures inside.  We found one of supposedly 4 bronze sculptures of laughing men sprawled across vertical benches.  Titled “Thirteen Laughing At Each Other”, the sculptures were created by Spanish artist Juan Muñoz in 2001 and is said to commemorate the freedom fighters martyred in 1829.  Despite the somber inspiration, the sculpture that we saw was whimsical and joyful with one man laughing so hard that he has tumbled off his seat. Looking through the see-through hoarding around the perimeter of the park, we also saw a 1904 bronze statue of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and spring by António Teixeira Lopes and an 1898 sculpture called Rapto de Ganimedes by Fernandes de Sá depicting the Greek Trojan hero Ganymede who was abducted by Zeus to serve as cupbearer. 

Across from the garden in Largo Amor de Perdição is a sculpture depicting Camilo Castelo Branco and Ana Plácido in an embrace.  Branco and Plácido were both noted Portuguese writers who embarked on a tumultuous love affair in the mid 1800s which resulted in their being jailed for adultery since Ana was already married.  Both lovers wrote and published works while in prison.  Their passion and defiance of 19th century societal norms in pursuit of love continued to inspire the public for generations.  Like the couple, the sculpture itself has come into controversy since Branco is depicted fully clothed while Plácido is nude, leading to complaints of the objectification of women.  A petition has led to plans for the sculpture to be torn down.

Porto has many Art Nouveau buildings still standing that were built during a period of prosperity around the turn of the 20th Century and which were not demolished in the middle of the century due to economic downturn at that time.  While we saw examples of Art Nouveau architecture during our previous walks along the pedestrian and shopping streets, we also took a special self-guided Art Nouveau tour in an area just north of Jardim das Cordaoria which had a concentration of gorgeous examples.  We started with the Livraria Lello, an iconic bookstore whose current building was completed in 1906 in Neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau styles.  The exterior has intricate stone carvings, an ornate pointed archway, two frescos of female figures representing “Art” and “Science” decorated with floral patterns, a vintage sign indicating “Lello & Brother” and other decorative features.  The interior supposedly is even more stunning, but it costs 5 Euro per person to go inside and the lineup for timed entry has been reported to be up to 3 hours, which is much more time than we wanted to spend. We settled for seeing images of the interior on the internet and used the time to view other buildings.

Continuing onwards, we saw the Armazéns Cunhas Department Store (1936) which has a stunning peacock design on its façade.  Rua de Cândido dos Reis has several Art Nouveau buildings including #75 which is decorated with red flowers, intricate wrought-iron work and curlicue motifs and #129 which features ornate azulejo tiles depicting urns and cornucopia filled with flowers and fruit.  Built in 1804, Farmácia Moreno pre-dated the Art Nouveau era but is still quite beautiful with its iron façade painted blue with white decorative details and the pharmaceutical symbol of Hygia featuring the snake representing wisdom and cup representing healing.