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.
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