Clérigos and the Baixa: tiles, towers and a town hall: a self-guided walk
By Alleytale
Porto's city centre on foot, from a tiled church to a market
Porto gave its public buildings time and care: a station that took eleven years to tile, a city hall that took until 1957 to move into, a market restored over about four years.
The stops
The Carmo church went up between 1756 and 1768, in Baroque and Rococo style, to a design credited to José Figueiredo Seixas. Its side wall is covered by a tile panel dated 1912, designed by Silvestre Silvestri, painted by Carlos Branco and made in factories in Vila Nova de Gaia, showing the founding of the Carmelite Order and Mount Carmel. Between it and the Carmelitas church next door stands the Casa Escondida, just over 1.5 metres wide, built because two churches could not be built directly side by side.
Photo: Bene Riobó — CC BY-SA 4.0 The bookshop's building was inaugurated on 13 January 1906 on Rua das Carmelitas, to a design by the engineer Francisco Xavier Esteves. A large staircase, known as the red staircase, leads up to the first floor. Above it a skylight by the Dutch artist Gerardus Samuel van Krieken carries the shop's monogram and the motto Decus in Labore, and measures 8 metres by 3.5.
Photo: Ralf Peter Reimann — CC BY-SA 2.0 Nicolau Nasoni, an Italian architect and painter, designed this church for the Brotherhood of the Clérigos; work began in 1732, the church was finished in 1750 and the tower was built between 1754 and 1763. The tower is 75.6 metres high, with 240 steps to the top of its six floors, and was inspired by Tuscan bell towers. Nasoni was buried in the crypt at his own request, though the exact place is unknown.
Photo: lumoplank — CC0 This station stands on the site of the Benedictine convent of São Bento da Avé Maria, demolished in 1892, and was built to plans by the architect José Marques da Silva in the Beaux-Arts style. Inside, about 20,000 azulejo tiles dating from 1905 to 1916 were composed by the painter Jorge Colaço, who placed the first of them on 13 August 1905. The panels show historical scenes, such as the Battle of Valdevez and the Conquest of Ceuta, and country life from different regions.
Photo: Joseolgon — CC BY-SA 4.0 The avenue is named for the countries that were allies in the First World War, and work began on 1 February 1916 in a ceremony attended by President Bernardino Machado. Its granite buildings are crowned with lanterns, domes and turrets. The central square was a garden until 2006 and is now paved with granite cobbles, and Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass here on 15 May 1982.
Photo: August Dominus — CC0 Work on the city hall began in 1920 to a project attributed to the architect Correia da Silva, and it was interrupted many times, so the municipal services only moved in during 1957. The central tower is 70 metres high, carries a carillon clock and has an interior staircase of 180 steps. About a dozen sculptures by José Sousa Caldas and Henrique Moreira on the granite facade show activities linked to Porto, such as winemaking, industry and navigation.
Photo: Alain Rouiller — CC BY-SA 2.0 The market is named after a stream that crossed a meadow here and made a bubble of water, on land the city bought in 1839 from the cathedral chapter. The current building was completed in 1914 to a design by the architect Correia da Silva, mixing reinforced concrete and metal structures with wooden roofs and granite. After about four years of works it reopened on 15 September 2022.
Photo: dlovins99 — CC0
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