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Loja das Tábuas – An expression of nature
9 August, 2018 / ,

Have you visited Loja das Tábuas? It produces boards for most kitchen Chefs and markets traditional Portuguese products with national, raw materials and revitalizes them with a contemporary and elegant touch.

Visit it at the Palácio das Artes in Porto and find dozens of different models of cutting boards or tableware that you can customize with a laser engraving. In addition to the Portuguese pine, you will find, for example, oak wood boards, olive wood and various cork products. There you can find other utensils such as benches, wine boxes or national cutlery products.

At the end, take your boards in a reused litter pack to complete an experience that values tradition and past knowledge whilst creating emotions in the present.

Largo de São Domingos, 20
Palácio das Artes
Porto
+351222080067
https://www.lojadastabuas.pt

 

The Art of Wrought Iron
20 July, 2018 /

As you stroll through Porto, make sure to stop along the way to look at the balconies, doors and windows and discover true works of art in wrought iron.

Present in major works, such as the D. Maria and D. Luís I bridges or the Ferreira Borges market, iron was not only used in architecture and engineering. Wrought iron, because it is more malleable, has been (and continues to be) used in more delicate decorative pieces. It is made in an artisan way and with a knowledge that has been passed down through generations.

Walking through Porto you will discover hundreds of small works of art present on the doors, windows and balconies. Geometric motifs, flowers, plants and animals “carved” in wrought iron, decorate houses making them unique. In some you can even see, among the iron lace, the date of the construction or the initials of its owner.

The author of the page Porto a Penantes has toured the streets of the city and in this edition shares some examples of the beauty of wrought iron.

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Igreja Senhora da Conceição
20 July, 2018 /

It is one of the most recent churches of Porto and, besides its unique architecture, it offers a privileged view of Porto and surrounding cities from its tower.

Consecrated by Our Lady of the Conception, patroness of Portugal, it is known among the Portuguese simply as the Igreja do Marquês, name of the square where it is located.

The creation of the Parish of Senhora da Conceição in 1927 made it necessary to build a church that could welcome the inhabitants of that part of the city, which became increasingly populous. The project was handed over to the Benedictine monk Paul Bellot. The first stone was laid in 1938 but due to economic difficulties and World War II, the work would only be completed in 1947.

The architecture has Gothic, Byzantine and Arab influences. Inside, the stained-glass windows with scenes of the life of Christ and of the Virgin Mary stand out, as well as an organ with 39 registers. One of the towers has 18 bells that can play 120 different songs. It is also possible to climb the tower, which is one of the highest points of the city and with a breath taking view.

Praça do Marquês de Pombal, 111, Porto
Visits: from 10h30 to 12h00 and from 15h00 to 17h00

Jardim do Carregal
20 July, 2018 /

It is considered the last romantic garden of Porto. The bridge that crosses the lake and the lush green trees that surround it create a unique and peaceful environment in a very busy area.

Built in 1897, this garden was designed by the Gardener-Landscapist Jerónimo Monteiro da Costa. The lake, the bridge and trees like cedars, sequoias and araucarias make this green space a pleasant place to relax.

Located next to the Hospital de Santo António, this garden also pays homage to the doctor, professor, researcher and artist Abel Salazar, with a statue by the sculptor Hélder de Carvalho.

The name (Carregal) comes from a plant called Carrega which grew on the banks of the Rio Frio (a River) which started near Torrinha and passed through the place where the hospital Santo António is today.

The suggestions of Maria Miguel
20 July, 2018 / , ,

At 17 years of age, Maria Miguel already walked the runway for brands like Saint Laurent, Chanel and Isabel Marant. Her career – which she tries to reconcile with her studies – makes her travel a lot, but Porto is her home.

Her passion for the city is implicit and she recently said in an interview with a Portuguese newspaper: “To me, of all cities, it is the best to live in. It has the sea, the river, has great food”.

Maria Miguel was born in Braga but lived in the Gerês area. When her father went to work in Angola, she accompanied the family and lived for seven years in the African country. She still spent a year in England but now, despite spending a lot of time in Paris, it’s in Porto that her family and friends live and here she comes back whenever she can.

The love of fashion came by chance in the life of this “tomboy”, who liked to play football and to walk in shorts. She was approached several times by representatives of models agencies but it wasn’t until the age of 14 that she decided to give it a go. After winning the L’Agence go to model contest, proposals for work began to emerge. She travelled to London and later to Paris, where she did a casting for Saint Laurent that changed her life. She has already opened two runways for the brand and worked exclusively for the prestigious Parisian brand for a full year. Despite all her success, she continues to not be dazzled by fame, keeping her tastes simple and normal for a young girl of her age.

RESTAURANT

Puro 4050: It has the best tru e pizza in the world! Largo São Domingos, 84 Porto

STROLL

Baixa do Porto:

Not only is it beautiful but you can also get a good workout in as it is full of ups and downs.

GARDEN

Parque da Cidade:

It has really cool football fields!

 

The traditional barber shops in Porto
20 July, 2018 / , , ,

These are nine of the traditional barbershops in the city of Porto and all are located between the Hospital Santo António and the São Bento Station.

Also traditional is the decoration of these barbershops, with iron armchairs and brass instruments capable of withstanding decades of use. Professionals also follow this longevity: many are elderly gentlemen with weather-discolored hair and clever fingers wrapped in wrinkles.

  • Barbearia Porto: It was born in 1946 but from that date only the chairs and a shoebox are left. The new owners brought in the rest of the vintage decor. It is two steps from the Avenida dos Aliados.
  • Barbearia Garrett: Since 1979 in the hands of Acácio Branco, this barbershop is just a few meters from the Porto City Hall. With an old-fashioned décor, this establishment only has male guests.
  • Oficina do Cabelo: Formerly known as Tinoco, reopened under this name. From 1929 it maintains the marble washbasins, iron chairs, huge mirrors and floor covered with fan mosaics. It is now considered part of Porto’s heritage.
  • Barbearia Santo António: It is not much bigger than a corridor, but it brings a lot of history in the hands of António Cardoso. There are more than 50 years of cuts at the beginning of Rua 31 de Janeiro.
  • Barbearia Norton: In this barbershop, in the Batalha area, we talk about everything and keep alive the tradition of the neighbourhood barber with leather chairs, beard brush and razors.
  • Salão Veneza: It is almost 90 years old and more than 70 years as a barbershop. Some of the most unforgettable characters of our history have already sat in these red armchairs.
  • Barbearia Sport: It was in 1942 that this barbershop settled in Porto. It happened in an era where one would spend more time embellishing their moustache than cutting hair.
  • Barbearia Invicta: Aventino Silva has been in this barbershop since the age of 10 and despite the arrival of the blades, he has not lost clients.
  • Barbearia Orlando: It already has two spaces in Porto but it is in the Rua Álvaro Castelões that the tradition, the customers and the conversations are kept on point.

Source: “Os bigodes à antiga e a arte de os fazer bem feitos” – Prova de Aptidão Artística (Artistic aptitude test) by Edgar Duarte (Escola Artística Soares dos Reis)

Rua da Picaria 
20 July, 2018 /

It began by being linked to horses. Then, it was once a street sought after by those who wanted to buy furniture and is now a cosmopolitan place where it is possible to find restaurants with foods from all over the world.

The designation of picaria seems to be prior to the street itself and may indicate that in that place, or in the vicinity, there was a stable. The street only began to be planned in the eighteenth century, at a time when this area of ​​the city, still quite rural, was urbanized and modernized.

Paved in the late 1930s, this street was occupied for decades by cabinetmakers and small furniture stores. In the absence of shop windows, small bookcases and wooden benches often occupied the narrow sidewalks. It was also in these carpenters that the Portuguese who, in the 19th and 20th centuries, immigrated to Brazil in search of work and wealth used pine boxes.

The area is also known for its lively nights due to the existence of two famous cabarets. The opening of the Rua de Ceuta, already in the twentieth century, led to some houses nearby being demolished. Travessa da Picaria disappeared, but the street remained until the present day.

Currently, Rua da Picaria is one of the liveliest places in Porto given the great diversity of restaurants and different gastronomic options.

Curiosities:

The Anglo Portuguese Telephone Company settled in Rua da Picaria and built a building there that still belongs to a communications company. The red telephone booths, which still exist in some streets of Porto, are a trace of this Portuguese-British company.

In the number 49 grew Francisco Sá Carneiro, Prime Minister of Portugal who died in 1980. Across the street was his law firm.

At the corner of Rua da Picaria and Rua de Ceuta there was once the Court where the writer Camilo Castelo Branco was tried for the crime of adultery. His relationship with Ana Plácido, the wife of a prosperous businessman, shocked the nineteenth-century Porto society.

Port Wine Museum
20 July, 2018 /

The Port Wine Museum, inaugurated in 2004, is housed in the Cais Novo warehouse, an 18th century building built on the initiative of a Douro family for the wine depot of the General Company of Agriculture and Vineyards of Alto Douro.

The purpose of this space is to present the history and importance of the Port wine trade in the historical development of the city. Several panels and multimedia stations throughout the museum illustrate the commercial activity, the wine region, the Douro railway line, the boats rabelos, the evolution of bottles and various objects related to the famous nectar.

The area of ​​the museum is developed through a course that provides different readings for the same set of pieces and covers areas as distinct as the archaeological residues of the commercial Porto, the shipwrecks in the Douro banks, the rabelo boats, the importance of the opening of the Douro line and the appearance of banking in the city.

Information:

Rua de Monchique, 94

Entrance fee: 2,20€ (student discounts, >65 e PortoCard members

Schedule: Monday to Saturday: 10:30 to 17:30

 

 

Souto Moura
20 July, 2018 /

Winner of the Pritzker Prize for Architecture (2011), Eduardo Souto Moura is one of the supporters of the so-called “Porto School”.

Eduardo Elísio Machado Souto de Moura was born in Porto on July 25, 1952 and studied at the Superior School of Fine Arts in Porto and at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto. He also collaborated with Siza Vieira as a student. The influence of Siza (who also received a Pritzker in 1992) is recognized by Souto Moura, but the two architects are also friends and have done projects together.

Souto Moura received the first prize of his career as soon as he graduated. The following year he began to teach in the Architecture course of the University of Porto, but throughout his career he also taught at the Faculty of Architecture of Paris-Belleville, architecture schools of Harvard and Dublin (1989), ETH Zurich and School of Architecture of Lausanne.

In addition to the construction projects, Souto Moura has also been outstanding in interventions carried out in historic buildings, territorial interventions and, more recently, works in the area of ​​Product Design. In addition to the Pritzker, he was the only architect to win the Pessoa Award. Within his enormous array of awards, the recent Golden Lion of the Biennial of Architecture of Venice stands out. He lives in Porto with his family, in a house he designed. Siza Vieira is his neighbour and they share an office with Rogério Cavaca close to home.

Some of his most emblematic works:

  • Casa das Artes, Porto
  • Ponte dell’Accademia, Bienal of Venice, Italy
  • Conversion of the Convent of Santa Maria do Bouro
  • Burgo Empreendimento – office buildings and commercial gallery, at Avenida da Boavista, Porto
  • Block of housing in Rua do Teatro, Porto
  • Children’s library and auditorium for the Municipal Public Library of Porto
  • Remodeling and valorization of the Grão Vasco Museum, Viseu
  • Reconversion of the Porto Customs Building in the Museum of Transport and Communications
  • Conversion of the Marginal Range of Matosinhos Sul
  • Portuguese Photography Center, building of the Chain of Relation of Porto
  • Architectural project for the Metro do Porto
  • Cinema House Manoel de Oliveira
  • Municipal Stadium of Braga
  • Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, Cascais

The fountain that changed location
20 July, 2018 /

The Fonte das Oliveiras was not always at Largo Alberto Pimentel.

The fountain was built in 1718 to make use of the waters of the springs that existed near the Rua das Oliveiras. In 1823, when the waters of the aqueduct of Paranhos were diverted, the source underwent a small remodelling. The fact that it was much sought after and that people occupied the streets while they waited to fill their jugs, influenced the decision to move it to a quieter place.

In 1866 it was dismantled and would be rebuilt in 1879 in the Largo Alberto Pimentel, where it is still present. It is set against a nineteenth-century building, with its facade tiled. In 1941 it was cleaned and restored.

The fountain is composed of a back and a central pillar. The only decoration is a shell that surrounds a dolphin, which works as a spout. The tank is also quite simple.