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.