Clérigos

3 years ago

0 ratings

Culture-Church Culture-Historical Building Culture-Landmark Culture-Monument Culture-Temple Diverse-Excursion Diverse-Meeting Diverse-Other Diverse-Shopping Exhibition-Architecture Exhibition-Artwork Exhibition-History Exhibition-Mixed Exhibition-Tour

Built in 1763 and considered National Heritage in 1910, the Church and Tower of Clérigos is one of the main architectural highlights within Porto. Clérigos consists of the Church, the Casa da Irmandade (House of the Brotherhood) and the Tower. The Church was built with 17th century Roman classicist traces and inside you will get to see its gorgeous altars with intricate details throughout. The House (Casa da Irmandade) is in a much more simplistic design in comparison to the Church and the Tower. Casa da Irmandade was used as a home for the clergy. Nowadays the house is a museum, where you can see how the priests used to lived in a place that was closed to the general population - as well as many interesting artefacts from the church. Originally, the Tower of Clérigos was built as a substitute for two bell towers. It went on to serve in many more functions, such as an audible time indication (a shot of dry gunpowder would be shot at midday), a telegraph station, an orientation landmark for the boats who drove on the Douro River, and many more. The town is 75 meters tall, has 6 floors and contains 49 bells. From the balconies of the tower you can enjoy a panoramic view of the whole city its surrounding area. Clérigos is definitely a must see in Porto! (Note: the price is 50% off if you have the Porto Card!) Photo Credits: Photo by Wendell Adriel on Unsplash