Visit to Historic Landmark Porto Cathedral in Portugal
Cathedral in Porto is a must visit historic landmark in old Porto, the place where the city came to existence. It is in the historic center of Porto which was designated the UNESCO World Heritage site status in 1996. We made a quick visit to Porto Cathedral and its cloister. Luck evaded us in Porto and we missed seeing Church of Saint Francis which was in our list of things to do in Porto. It is famous for its golden interiors. We were late after the long drive to Porto from Coimbra.
Porto Cathedral History, Architecture
Porto Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in Porto. Also known as Sé do Porto Catedral, it is the most famous and the oldest historical Romanesque landmarks of the cultural city Porto. It was built by Bishop Hugh, a French nobleman who came to Porto before Portugal’s independence. He ably ruled the city from 1113 to 1136. The construction of Porto Cathedral was started in 1110 and was completed in 13th century.
Location of this cathedral is great as it is on a hill top and you get great views of the city. After the steep climb the views and cool breeze had a calming and soothing effect. From architectural point of view the Porto Cathedral is a mix of Romanesque, Baroque and Gothic styles as modifications went on for 9 long centuries. The facade shows the evidence of it being a Romanesque structure.
Interior of Porto Cathedral Portugal
The facade is grey and plain but stepping into the spacious interiors, I found it lovely. A holy atmosphere prevailed. Very less lighting inside, like in other cathedrals, that made it difficult to capture the details. The interiors too were altered with changing architectural styles through the 9 centuries. The nave has the maximum decoration and gilding.
The silver altar that holds a curious story:
In 1809, when Napoleon’s Grande Armeé entered the city, a local resident painted the altar to hide the silver. The French troops never noticed that and left the silver untouched.
The Gothic rose window of the façade is one of the few well preserved original elements of the cathedral.
Cloisters of Porto Cathedral
The tour inside will take 15 to 20 minutes. After that we visited the cloisters. A cloister (enclosure) is a covered walk, open gallery, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, indicates that it is (or once was) part of a monastic foundation.
Cloisters effectively separates the world of the monks from that of the serfs and workmen, whose lives and works went on outside. The cloisters here show a clear gothic architectural style. Walls are covered with blue-white tiles till half way.
Porto Cathedral tiles depict stories from Bible. We are permitted to walk around the top of the cloisters.
Tourists are allowed to see the private official rooms that are used by the clergy and the treasure house. These are so richly decorated, one is forced to pause and admire. We toured upstairs above the cloisters into what looked like a conference room. The blue-and-white “Azulejos” tiles fixed to the lower part of the wall depict scenes from the Bible. They are similar to the ones used to decorate the cloisters and the upper ramparts of the cloisters.
Tickets to Cloister
Admission to the cathedral is free however the cloisters have €3 as entrance fee. It is definitely worth spending the few euros.
Porto Cathedral Square
Visiting Hours Porto Cathedral Portugal
Church: Apr-Oct Mon-Sat: 9:00-19:00 Sun and holidays: 9:00-12:30 ~ 14:30-19:00
Nov-Mar Mon-Sat: 9:00-18:00 Sun and holidays: 9:00-12:30 ~ 14:30-18:00
Cloisters: Apr-Oct Mon-Sat 9:00-18:30 Sun and holidays 14:30-18:30
Nov-Mar Mon-Sat 9:00-17:30 Sun and holidays 14.30-17.30
Closed on Christmas, Easter
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Lovely pics.
What a beauty… It often amazes me how intricate historic architectures are. Great article once again Indrani x
Love that stained glass..Thanks for sharing
The stained glass window…that’s wonderful!
Great write-up, Indrani! Loved reading the details…thanks for taking us through delightful virtual trips with you 🙂
Beautiful pics, as always! Lovely architecture it has.
Beautiful pictures…the cathedral looks marvelous 🙂
It looks like a very interesting and beautiful cathedral.
The cathedrals in Europe are simply so opulent. We won’t be able to build them this way in this era in my opinion.
Worth a Thousand Words
Stunned looking at the photographs of the awesome ancient creations! Good to read the details…
Awesome!
A beautiful Post, Indrani.. Thanks for sharing!
Love the picture of the glass stained windows! Wonderful photo-story.
Beautiful place 🙂
Beautiful art work!
Beautiful
Loved the pics of the stained glass!
Wonderful post!
Marvelous cathedral! Glad they allowed visiting atop to catch on the views around. Beautiful captures
wow nice it is very nice country !
Such a beautiful cathedral!!!
Lovely description of magnificent architecture (especially interior) with wonderful clicks. Great post, Indrani 🙂
Lovely captures of a beautiful cathedral!
Great place and stunning pics.
Gorgeous structure! Particularly love the last few pictures
I love such architectural wonders! Thanks for sharing ?
Sundar aur Shandar.
So rich in history and very ornate looking.
Awesome Cathedral. Beautiful photos.
Beautiful cathedral. Love the photos in the post.
Have a good weekend!
Alexander
It is a spectacular cathedral and your photos are truly marvelous!
What a beautiful building and so old. I love the photos of the altar and the stained glass and thank you for explaining what we are viewing.
it is really beautiful – both inside and out.
Very beautiful Cathedral and nice narration, photos!
Have a Happy Day, Indrani!
Peace 🙂
beautiful cathedral. love the stain glass
So beautiful!
Hello, I love these old cathedral. They are so beautiful, inside and out. The stained glass is just stunning. Wonderful series of photos. Enjoy your day!