PORTUGAL: PORTO, PART II - CATHEDRAL, CLERIGOS CHURCH AND BELLTOWER, AND A LUNCH DETOUR

 June 28, 2022

The Portuguese word Sé is used to mean "cathedral" or a diocese with a bishop. Typically, the word Sé is reserved for the main or ruling church of the community. 

We could see the Romanesque Sé do Porto, located on a hill in the middle of the historical city center, from all over town. 

On our way there, we passed the Fountain of Mouzinho da Silveira, built in 1875 as a monument to a Portuguese statesman who died in 1849. This landmark was dismantled in 1920 to make room for two businesses. In 1966, however, the businesses were gone and the fountain was reconstructed after a model of the original one. I'll bet it is beautiful when it has water in it (if it ever does).

Did you notice the cool reflection on the vehicle in the lower left corner of the photo above?

Construction on the cathedral began in the early 12th century and was worked on for the next 600 years. To me, the highlight was the porch. Yep, the porch. I guess you could also call it a terrace. That sounds more chic. The wall behind the pillars and stone railing is covered with intricate azulejos.

Is that pink thing on the bench (below right) a PILLOW?

Yes. The terrace had several sleeping bodies adorning its cold stone floor and benches. I've never seen a better use for a church's porch/terrace.

The rose window and crenellated arch date to the 12th century.

We entered the tiny St. Vincent Chapel first. Its beautiful gilt altar was built in the late 16th century.

The walls are lined with scenes from the life of Christ.

What is that on the plate at the Last Supper? Someone's pet dog? 

It reminds me of the guinea pig in the painting of the Last Supper that is in the Cathedral in Cusco, Peru.

See my post about it here.

So much wonderful tile work!

Not your bathroom shop variety of tiles, that's for sure.

This glorious room with its wash of colors is the sacristy. 

The interior walkway or cloister is also covered with azulejos. Apparently some depict scenes from the Song of Solomon (!), and others depict the life of the Virgin Mary and Ovid's Metamorphoses. Very eclectic, just like the cathedral itself. The gothic cloister was built at the end of the 14th century.

The narrow Romanesque nave draws all eyes to the magnificent 18th century Baroque altar with its dramatic twisted columns.

Marble is also used throughout, as in the scalloped dish holding holy water and the baptismal font

Note the woman and child in the bottom corner of the bronze relief of the baptism of Christ. Beautiful.

When we left the cathedral, a pilgrim was just passing by on his way Santiago de Compostela in Spain. How did we know? 

He had a scallop shell tied to his backpack, the symbol of this particular pilgrimage. We were like paparazzi, stalking him for a couple of blocks before heading off to our next destination.

We wanted to squeeze in one more destination before we stopped for lunch: the Clérigos bell tower and church. 

Like the cathedral on the hill, the 250-foot-tall tower can be seen from many places around the city. Unlike the cathedral, it took only 9 years to build, from 1754 to 1763.  

The tower sits behind a quite charming little church that I neglected to get pictures of, so I had to borrow this one.

Photo from here

I did get pictures of the interior, however. There's that ubiquitous "stairway to heaven" (or alternately, "wedding cake Mary") altar design.

The interior dome weirdly resembles an inverted turtle shell.

Clerigos Church has many beautiful nooks and crannies.

Sometimes I would look at something and think, "Oh, that's pretty." But then I would take a closer look and say, "Oh, that's really funky." Below is a good example. Mary and another woman (Elizabeth? Anna?) look like they are about to drop the Baby Jesus. They are also balancing pretty precariously on the heads of seven rather unfortunate disembodied angels.

And how about this funky angel? He looks like a cartoon character. The pipe organ, on the other hand, is downright gorgeous.

Bob had scouted out the best restaurant in Porto to try the famous francesinha sandwich. (The sandwich is originally from Porto.) We had eaten a very good version in Aveiro, and we were expecting an even tastier version in the dish's birth city. We called an Uber, which took us to a street far away from the older part of town. We had the address, but even the driver couldn't find the actual restaurant. Bob had him drop us off anyway, and we set out on foot looking for it.

We did eventually find it, but right at the end of their lunch time. We started off with a strange dish of fries, sliced ham and cheese, and an over-easy egg. How was it? Let me just say that it is not something I will try to replicate at home. That was followed by a sandwich that looked a lot tidier than the one we had eaten in Aveiro but was underwhelming. 

I was wishing we had skipped the lunch detour, grabbed a snack in Old Town, and meandered a little bit more.