Arriving in Porto at the beautiful old train station of Sao Bent Station
Inaugurated in 1916, the historical station is known for its tile (azulejo)) panels that depict scenes of the History ofPortugal
Little restaurant recommended for lunch. We had a very good vegetable soup here.
The fanciest McDonald's I've ever seen.
In a historical building on the main square
In 1866 a monument dedicated to King Peter IV, a monarch closely linked to Porto, was inaugurated in the middle of the square. The monument, by French sculptor Anatole Calmels, consists of a statue of Peter IV riding a horse and holding the Constitution that he had fought to protect during the Liberal Wars.
City Hall desiged by Henrique Moreira
Looking down the plaza from city hall
The ceiling paintings in the romantic style, with the Coat of Arms of the City of Porto
walking street. We walked this on our way to the Palacio da Bolsa
Palacio da Bolsa
The Palácio da Bolsa is located beside the St Francis Church of Porto, which was once part of the St Francis Convent, founded in the 13th century. In 1832, during the Liberal Wars, a fire destroyed the cloisters of the convent, sparing the church. In 1841, Queen Mary II donated the convent ruins to the merchants of the city, who decided to use the spot to build the seat of the Commercial Association.
Building work began in 1842 following the plans of Porto architect Joaquim da Costa Lima Júnior, who designed a Neoclassical palace of Palladian influence, inspired by previous structures built in the city. Most of the palace was finished by 1850, but the decoration of the interior was only completed in 1910 and involved several different artists.
The central courtyard (Nations' Courtyard - Pátio das Nações) is covered by a large metallic, octagonal dome with glass panels, designed by Tomás Soler and built after 1880. The lower part of the dome is decorated with the painted coats-of-arms of Portugal and the countries with which Portugal had commercial relations in the 19th century
The parquet floor in this room looks three dimensional (the photo does not pick that up). This flooring was laid with the use of nails (just fitting the individual pieces by hand).
Although this room looks like it is completely done in wood, it is only wood up to the chair rail. The rest is painted plaster to look like wood. You could not tell the difference, it was so well done.
The parquet floor
Our hotel the Grande Hotel de Paris is one of the oldest in the city and quite charming
the dining room where we had breakfast each morning
the lobby. It did have an elevator, very old fashioned with a gate closure, which had to be shut before the elevator would movel. Neat place.
Day one and tomorrow a tour of the city.
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