Upper Porto – The City Center
We’ll start at a statue of cherubs holding fruit that marks the middle of Porto’s main square/boulevard:
- Avendia dos Aliados (Avenue of the Allies) – This is the main urban drag of Porto, where Portugal’s hardworking second city goes to work. Porto – often invaded, never conquered – is known as cidade invicata, the “Invincible City.” It’s also called “The Granite City” – both for its stone-built cityscape and its sturdy, stubborn people (who like to say they have granite in their DNA). Rounding out the defiant symbolism is the dragon – the mascot of the locally beloved soccer team, FC Porto.
As we emerge from the narrow medieval streets onto Avenida dos Aliados, we’re experiencing one of Europe’s most dramatic urban transitions. This grand boulevard, completed in 1916, represents Porto’s declaration that it could rival Paris, Vienna, or any great European capital.
Avenida dos Aliados is named for the alliance created when Portugal joined the winning side during World War I. The wide boulevard, lined with elaborate examples of various architectural eras (mostly Art Nouveau and Art Deco) was inspired by early 20th-century Paris and is also reminiscent of Prague’s Wenceslas Square.
The imposing City Hall with its 70-meter tower crowned by a bronze eagle. This tower isn’t just civic architecture – it’s a symbol of Porto’s fierce independence. The eagle represents freedom, reminding everyone that this is ‘Cidade Invicta’ – The Unvanquished City. Porto earned this title during the Liberal Wars of the 1830s when it refused to surrender to conservative forces, becoming the last bastion of Portuguese liberalism.
The avenue’s width and grandeur follow the Haussmanian model that transformed Paris in the mid-1800s. Porto’s city planners studied the great European capitals and decided their city deserved equal magnificence. Notice how the buildings maintain consistent height and architectural harmony – this wasn’t accidental but carefully planned civic pride.
The twin bank towers flanking the street midway up were designed by Portuguese architect Marques da Silva (c. 1920). And crowning the square is the huge City Hall (Camara Municipal), built in 1957, with a balcony where VIPs are presented.
This esplanade is where locals gather for good times and bad times. For example, 600,000 people celebrated here when Porto won the 2018 national football championship.
Observe the café terraces lining both sides of the avenue. This is where Porto’s intellectual and business communities have gathered for over a century, debating politics, literature, and commerce. The tradition of afternoon coffee here represents Porto’s sophisticated urban culture – distinctly Portuguese yet unmistakably European.
Praca da Liberdade (Liberty Square) marks the bottom of the avenue. The statue honors King Pedro IV (1798 – 1834), a hero in the 1832 Civil War, who advocated for a limited constitutional monarchy in Portugal (while maintaining his title as Emperor of Brazil). King Pedro prevailed… and he’s holding the constitution to prove it. A true “people’s king,” he left his heart to the people of Porto – literally. It’s buried in a local church.
The square is a strong statement for a secular and modern Portugal: It’s topped not by a church, but by the City Hall. Throughout Porto, after the king dissolved the monasteries and confiscated church property in the 1830s, large tracts of land that had been the domain of the church became the domain of the people. Then, in the 1920s and 1930s (especially with the coming of the dictator Antonio Salazar), Portugal demonstrated its national pride by razing many characteristic medieval quarters to modernize the country, building bigger squares and bigger buildings (as here). While this feels like a celebration of art, it’s the old financial center of Porto and these buildings are all about commerce.
Check it out – The “Imperial McDonald’s” is directly to the right of King Pedro, hiding behind the trees. Filling what was once the Imperial Café, this is one of the fanciest McDonald’s in Europe. Ponder the battle of cultural elegance against global economic efficiency. Portugal is the only country where McDonald’s serves soup. It’s a very soupy culture; even McDonald’s had to include it to gain locals’ acceptance.
Now we’ll stand at the very bottom of the square – along the busy street. Notice that NOTHING is level in Porto. Looking uphill, we can see the blue-titled Church of San Ildefonso, and just downhill is Sao Bento station. Our wander connects key landmarks, with a little uphill walking at the start, then lots of downhill walking.
Next, we’ll head one short block up Avenida dos Alidos to the over-the-top bank tower on the left side of the square (labeled Unic – indeed it is). Angle up the little street just in front of that building (Rua do Dr. Artur de Magalhaes Basto). After one short block, we’ll continue up the same street, now called…
- Rua da Fabrica – This street – named for the tobacco factories that once helped power local industry in this town – is one of the many appealing shopping lanes in downtown Porto. The city has been transformed in recent years. Not long ago, streets like this were neglected and deserted. And while they may still be (artfully) seedy, like the derelict place on our left, life is fast returning – with clever boutiques and tempting eateries opening all the time. Here are a few shops that are suggested by friends to pop into as we climb to the top of this street.
This transitional street demonstrates Porto’s layered development – the name “Fabrica” (Factory) hints at the industrial heritage that powered Porto’s 19th-century growth. Today, former industrial spaces house galleries, design studios, and cultural venues, showing how Porto adapts historic infrastructure for contemporary creativity. This route provides a natural progression from the civic grandeur of Aliados to the literary and artistic atmosphere surrounding Livraria Lello, preparing you for tomorrow’s cultural deep dive into Porto’s intellectual heritage.
Check it out – Almada em Branco (#125 – the first corner on our right), offers high-quality, locally handcrafted items: leather shoes, jewelry, cork products, sardines, and more.
Check it out – At Mercado na Invicta (#15 on our left), every table holds the work of a different artisan. Creative enterprises like these were born out of the economic crisis.
Check it out – Touriga Wine Shop (#32) offers tastings and shelves stocked with local wines.
As we hike two steep blocks farther, notice the fine tiled facades. We’ll keep going up Rua da Fabrica, huffing our way up three more short but steep blocks. We’ll pop out at a cute little triangular square called…
- Praca Guilherme Gomes Fernandes – The square’s namesake – honored by a statue in the middle – led the fire brigade that contained an 1888 blaze, which otherwise might have devastated the city.
Check it out – The famous sandwich in Porto, Portugal is called the Francesinha (pronounced fran-say-ZEEN-ya), which means “little French woman” in Portuguese.
The Francesinha is a Portuguese sandwich, originally from Porto, made with layers of toasted bread and assorted hot meats such as roast, steak, wet-cured ham, linguiça, or chipolata over which sliced cheese is melted by the ladling of a near-boiling tomato-and-beer sauce called molho de francesinha. It is typically served with French fries.
This iconic sandwich was created in the 20th-century by Daniel David de Silva who, upon returning to Portugal from time spent in France and Belgium, tried to adapt the croque-monsieur to Portuguese tastes. In 1953, he introduced a sandwich with local meats and a custom beer-and-tomato sauce at A Regaleira, a restaurant in Rua do Bonjardim in Porto.
The Francesinha is considered much more than just a sandwich – it’s “an entire meal in itself and for some, an entire day’s calorific takings” and is often described as “the mother of all Porto sandwiches” . Each restaurant in Porto has its own secret sauce recipe, making it a true local specialty that represents the city’s culinary identity.
It certainly finished my need for a breatkfast, lunch and dinner! 🙂
With our food stop at our back, we’ll turn right following the trolley tracks until we emerge at:
- Praca de Gomes Tiexeira and Praca de Parada Leitao – The centerpiece of Praca de Gomes Teixeira is the Fountain of Lions, and behind that is the main building of the University of Porto. U. Porto is a fairly young school (founded 1911), but the second-biggest in Portugal, with about 30,000 students who give this city – and this neighborhood (one of three main campuses) – a special energy. The square is named for its first rector and beloved math professor.
At the top of the square (facing the university), the Armazens Cunhas department store demonstrates the sleek Art Deco style that took hold in Porto in the early 20th century – sprucing up a city of granite and azulejos. This neon façade, though now faded, might look more at home in Hollywood or Miami Beach. The peacock at the top trumpets the new fashions of the age, and neon announces novidades – vendemos mais barato (“new fashions – we sell cheaper!”)
Just pass the end of the square, we can’t miss the brilliant blue azulejos on the side of Carmo Church, depicting the founding of the Carmelite Order. Circling around to the front, we’ll see this is two fine Rococo churches in one: On the right, Carmo Church; on the left, the Carmelite church, with a huge white convent that once housed an order of Carmelite friars. Like other convents and monasteries, it was nationalized in 1834 and today serves as the headquarters of Portugal’s national guard. These two churches were divided by what they like to call the “world’s narrowest house” – with the green gate and door. The house served as a secret meeting place for order members during wartime and as a temporary shelter (for people such as doctors who worked in the order’s hospital, artists who worked in the church, and the sacristan).
Stretching downhill from the church is the delightful cobbled square called Praca de Parada Leitao. At the top end is the venerable (and recommended) Café Piolho d’Ouro, beloved by the local “bats.” Over the years in Porto, students with their black capes and habit of coming out in flocks after dark earned the nickname, and this café is bat central. If we wander inside, we’ll see plaques on the walls celebrating decades of graduating classes.
Lately this entire neighborhood has become a lively zone of student cafes, bars, and hangouts. If we’re looking for some action after dinner, this neighborhood is a top local recommendation.
In front of the café, we’ll see the trolley stop for one of Porto’s historic lines. As in Lisbon, rickety trolleys have long been a part of Porto’s history, and the city is committed to bringing them back as an integral part of the public transit system. In 1872 (40 years after being invented in the U.S.), the first trolleys in Iberia began operating in Porto, pulled by horses and oxen. Dubbed americanos based on their origin, the trolley network was electrified in 1904. Essential for connecting suburbs with the city center, more than 100 trolley lines were still in use by the 1970s. However, buses and cars – the by-products of modern prosperity – almost eliminated this important part of the city’s heritage.
Today, a few lines survive as vintage trips appealing to us tourists, although some locals of an older generation use them as public transport.
We’ll walk back to the big square with the university building on our right. An elevated park sits just ahead. On the left side of the downhill street that runs along the park, we’ll see:
- Lello Bookstore – Built in 1906, the shop boasts a lacy exterior bearing the original name, Lello & Irmao, and a fancy Art Nouveau interior. It looks like wood, but its’ mostly made of painted plaster with gold leaf. J.K. Rowling, who worked in Porto for a year, was reportedly inspired by this Harry Potter-esque shop. And sure enough, the interior feels like something you’d see on Diagon Alley.
The Harry Potter connection – which was attracting 2,000 Potterheads a day to ogle the interior – became too much for this fragile, little bookshop to handle. So now we visitors must buy a voucher to enter. Warning – lines can be ridiculous and, while it’s charming, there’s not a lot to see inside. But if we enter(it was closed and we did not return…) , we’ll follow the quaint tracks to the book trolley. We’ll climb the sagging staircase to find the old cash register and admire the stained-glass ceiling and the slinky hanging lights. The cost is $5 euros. Tickets and bag check are at #166 four doors downhill – once secured you then join the queue at the bookstore’s front door.
The cross street just downhill from the bookstore is Galeria de Paris, which is lined with characteristic shops and bars. On this corner is also a branch of A Vida Portuguesa, the Lisbon-based shop for quality, authentic local souvenirs. Across the street, just uphill from the bookstore, is some brilliant city planning at:
- Praca de Lisboa Park – This innovative solution shows what smart urban planners can do to camouflage an ugly concrete parking garage in the historic heart of a city: built a park on top of it. The most direct way to our next stop – the church tower – is through the modern concrete mall, which tunnels past shops and cafes under the middle of the park. But I’d rather head up the stairs (just to the right of the mall) to walk across the park itself – a green respite dotted with inviting olive trees in the heart of a congested city. Up top, a hip bar called Base serves drinks, which we can enjoy at picnic tables or under one of the 50 gnarled olive trees. This is a great spot for a drink after dark.
We’ll make our way across the park – either down below or up top – to reach the can’t miss it…
- Clerigos Church and Tower (Igreja e Torre dos Clerigos) – This church, which consumed three decades of Nicolau Nasoni’s life (1731 – 1763), shows the ambitious architect’s flair for theatrics. He fit the structure into its hilltop location, putting the tower at the back on the highest ground, dramatically reinforcing its height. Nasoni worked in stages: first the church, then the hospital and the Chapter House (meeting room for priests and monks). He topped it all off with the outsized tower. We can go into the church for free – but have to pay to climb the tower for the views.
The church façade displays Nasoni’s characteristic frills, garlands, and exuberant cornices. Notice how Nasoni built the tower in six sections, each one more elaborate than the last, topped with a round dome and spiked with pinnacles.
The interior is an oval-shaped Baroque nave built out of granite and pink marble but covered with ornate carvings (c. 1725). Look for the high altar – a wedding-cake structure with Mary on tap. It’s thought to be the tomb of Nasoni, who asked to be buried here. Statues of the eight patron saints of Portugal circle the nave.
I was wiped out after my day of travel… beginning in the United States – traveling across the pond – hoping down to Portugal – meeting up with a good friend, and taking in some sights. Tomorrow offered a fresh perspective (non-Jet Lagged) and an exploration of the riverfront and the native liquor that is named after where it comes from – Port!