Tiles

Tiles are very much a part of the cultural heritage of Portugal.  They were originally introduced by the Moors.  When trade with China began, blue and white tiles mirroring Chinese porcelin became very popular.  They provide some practical benefits:  fire resistance and noise dampening effects.  They also help protect masonery walls from moisture and rot in the humid climate.  It was my intention to take pictures of flooring tiles everywhere we went, but there were so many other things to look at and admire, I didn't capture as many as I had hoped.  I didn't even try to capture all the wall tiles that covered so many of the buildings in every town.  Some of the wall tiles were flat an a single color, but many were painted with pretty designs.  My favorites were the ones that were textured.  Charlene got a book about them and how they have evolved in their patterns over the centuries.

Coimbra University

Coimbra University

Coimbra

Sao Francisco Church

Duke's Palace Guimaraes

Porto River Walk

Day 5 - Wandering the city and St. Francisco church and museum

After four days of venturing outside of Porto, we finally returned our rental car and got to explore more of the city on foot.  We took the city metro from the airport toward our apartment, but did not count on station closures due to the airshow taking place a few blocks away on the river.  We bypassed the station we wanted and got taken across the river to be let out two more stops away.  We crossed to the other side of the tracks and took the next (very crowded!) tram back toward our apartment and then hiked a ways from the nearest open station.  

The next morning, David and I wandered passed the Cathedral and down the narrow streets below it.  We eventually came out to a square on the river.  There were vendors setting up everywhere, wrapping up from the airshow and preparing for the festival of St. John.  Each square had large speaking playing dance music.

The architecture was so different from building to building.  I liked the white one here.  Each window has a flower box, which was not as common as I might expect in this climate.  

The castle-like building at the end of the street dates to the 1300s. It still has its original Gothic windows and doors on the ground level. 

Sao Francisco Church - the Gold Church was quite beautiful. It was built in the 1300's, but became a national monument in 1910.  Unfortunately it's one of those buildings where you aren't supposed to take photos.  

As usual, I took one photo.  But a better image is below from a pamphlet they provided. 

Very ornate and covered with gilt work. Estimates are that 300 kilos of gold dust were used to decorate the interior. 

They had some videos playing that showed before and after photos of much of the recent renovations that have been completed.  I'm always fascinated with restoration work.  It became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1996. 

There was a museum associated with the church that we explored next.  Some interesting rooms and various artifacts.

These mother of pearl carvings were something I hadn't seen before.  Each tells part of a bible story like an illustrated bible.

This was a shadow box with 3D figures inside.  It was about 12", so not very big. We saw a lot of 3D figures, large and small.  I'm not even sure what to call them.  When I say "sculpture", I think of marble carvings.  Many of them are "polychrome wood", which I had to look up.  Polychrome is a process of applying multiple colors to a stone or wood carving.  First the figure is coated with a sealant, then multiple layers of bright colors are applied. 

Another detailed polychrome wood piece

I thought it was funny that zooming in on the man's hand, he has lost just the right fingers to be flipping the bird. lol. 

There were several references and art related to the martyr monks.  These were Franciscans who went to Morocco to convert the muslims, but were killed for preaching Christianity. 

Painted wooden figure - 1600's.  This was on display in the crypt along with lots of others.  I was astounded that we were allowed to walk directly up to them and look at them up close.  Lots of signs saying please don't touch, but they were not behind glass or railings or anything. 

I liked this statue.  It was titled "Charity" and dates to the 1860s.

This fancy thing was used by the wealthy to get carried around the city.  It made me claustrophobic to think about riding in it!

The interior was fancy!

This tapestry had very detailed stitch work.  I don't remember how old it was, but I was impressed by the state of preservation.

Close up of the tapestry above. It is stitched fabric. 

This was a kind of person-carried float for passion parades.  They are life sized figures and probably pretty heavy. You can see the shoulder pads for the porters below. 

Under the church are catacombs where members of the Franciscan order and from wealthy Porto families are buried. 

The ossuary contains thousands of bones.

Dom Luis Bridge

This is one of 6 bridges that cross the Porto River between the Porto and Gaia parts of the city.  It has a pedestrian and tram bridge on top, and a 2nd pedestrian bridge across the bottom.  We walk both multiple times. There are other bridges that are cars only.

This was taken on the bridge one of the first nights we were in town. There was supposed to be a drone show on the river that would have taken a world record number of drones directly over the bridge.  Behind me is part of the old city wall (not much is left, but this was an impressive sample).  Porto was actually never captured by an enemy force, thus its nickname Porto Invicta - invinceable.  Given the steepness of the hills/streets, the river front and steep walls, I can see why.

Looking down on the river front. Both sides of the river have LONG river walks (several miles) that go all the way to the ocean.  I liked the colored lights reflected in the water.  

Looking straight down from our viewing spot on the bridge to the residential streets below. 

A day time view from the bridge.  Some streets were so steep and narrow that people only have stair access to their homes.  We walked up these stairs on the last night during the festival of St John.  250 stairs!

A few from the Gaia side looking toward the cathedral.  The metro trams would pass across with only short bollards separating them from the pedestrian ways.  Fortunately they moved pretty slow so people had time to get out of the way. 

Looking up from the lower pedestrian way.

Right at sunset (too cloudy for a pretty sunset), lights are just coming on. 

This was on the night of the St. John festival.  The river walkways were crammed with people, drinking, dancing, and having a great time.

Iconic 'clock tower' - Igreja dos Clerigos

This tower stands out on the Porto horizon from across the city. I don't know if it's the highest point in the city, but it probably is.  It was very visible from our apartment patio and I took a lot of pictures.  David and I finally got the chance to see it up close and climb to the top - at the same time as the Red Bull air races were occurring along the river!  Amazing view from up high.

Each morning was foggy until about 9:00 or so when it started to burn off.  The streets were pretty quiet in the mornings too.  Its kind of a slow rising city. 

Finally, a close up.  This is the Clerigos Church. The tower is 75 m high.  It was designed by Nicolau Nasoni and was finished in 1750.  He was an Italian architect that designed a number of buildings in the city. 

240 steps to reach the top.  David demonstrates how you handle people moving in the opposite direction on the stairs - press yourself into a corner on the landings!  It was tight. 

Looking out over the roof of the nave.

The top part of the stairs were even narrower.  They had installed a metal set of stairs with enclosed sides, but you can see the original stairs appear to have been totally open to a multistory fall below.

You can see the smoke trailing from a plane that has just completed a loop.  They were running a 'slalom' course at river level, having to pass back and forth between two 'gates' and weave between three huge inflated pillars on the water, then turn a 180 vertically and do it again.  We could see the loops, but not the flight at river level.

The Se do Porto (Cathedral) square (upper left)

Pano view from the tower.  It must be illegal to have any color roof other than red - ha!

We had the perfect view of the patio of our apartment (black arrow on left) and the Cathedral (red circle)

This was the last night with the festival of St John when all the lanterns were floating over the city.