Churches/Cathedrals, Porto

This Baroque tower built in the 18th century is, maybe, the most famous building of Porto.

Centrally located, it's easy to reach and quick to see, being almost impossible to stroll in historic Porto without stumbling on it.

The church and monastery were started in the early 1200's, but not completed until 1410 in its Gothic form. It is considered to contain some of the finest examples of gilded caring wood in Portugal. The large alterpiece represents the Tree of Jesse and is from around 1718. The detailed carvings are simply amazing. There is also a museum and crypt.

Located in Praca Batalha, it is also known as Iegeja Batalha, this is a very picturesque church, with wonderful blue tiles set symetically facing the Praca. The original church dating from 1296 was in danger of collapsing and demolished in 1709. The new church was completed in 1739. Ir survived artillery fire in 1833 and a severe storm in 1819. Much is unknown about the original construction and recent archeology work uncovered 19 graves.

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I passed the Iglesia São Lourenço when walking from the Sé Catedral do Porto towards the Cais da Ribeira, and decided to give it a visit. The church is built by the Jesuits in late 16th century, but with the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1759, the church was donated to the University of Coimbra. Later it also became the home of the "Friars-Grilos, and this have given the church its popular name Igreja dos Grilos.

I think the church was nice. It has a few chapels, a huge main altar and two side altars - where especially the altar with the death Jesus was worth a closer look. There is also a museum, the Museum of Sacred Art and Archaeology, which has many exhibits of statues, sculptures, paintings, old books, and other religious artefacts. A tour through the museum will also lead you to the choir and from there is a good view of the church room. And if you enter the small courtyard with the fishpond, you’ll find a few archaeological exhibitions.

It was free to visit the church, but you have to pay 2 Euro (October 2010) to enter the museum section.

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Sé Catedral do Porto (the Porto Cathedral) is located in the historical city centre of Porto. The fortress-like cathedral was built in Romanesque style between the 12th and 13th century, but has been extensively altered in the 17th and 18th centuries in Baroque style.

It was free to visit the cathedral, but a mass was about to start and I only had a quick look at the many richly decorated altars around the church. Instead I paid the 3 Euro (October 2010) to visit the connected Gothic cloister, built in the 14th century. The cloister was quite interesting; many walls were covered with magnificent blue and white tiles, the sacristy was beautiful decorated, and a couple of the chapels were worth a visit - for instance Capela S. João Evangelista and Capela de S. Vicente with its golden altarpiece.

Outside Sé Catedral do Porto is a small square with a nice view of Porto. The square is also home of the Episcopal Palace (which is the former residence of the bishops of Porto - now municipal offices) and a Manueline-style monument.

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In Portugal we use to say that "one image speaks more than 1000 words". Having that in mind, and more than 1000 pictures to post, I decided to change my behaviour, posting the pictures as soon as they are ready, and adding the comments later.
Don't get mad on me - I'm glad to share my pictures with you, and the comments will be added soon.

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In Portugal we use to say that "one image speaks more than 1000 words". Having that in mind, and more than 1000 pictures to post, I decided to change my behaviour, posting the pictures as soon as they are ready, and adding the comments later.
Don't get mad on me - I'm glad to share my pictures with you, and the comments will be added soon.

Another fine example of a church made up of granite and tiles is the Santo Ildefonso church.
It is located in Praça (square) da Batalha, east of São Bento station and Avenida dos Aliados.

It's an XVIII century church with rococo and neoclassic elements. The tiles were done by the artist Jorge Colaço, the same that painted the tiles at São Bento station. The tiles were added in 1932