São Bento Railway Station: The Cathedral of Azulejos

Why is it significant?

Step into the high-ceilinged vestibule of São Bento Station and pause in wonder before the soaring walls completely covered in twenty thousand luminous blue and white ceramic azulejos.

Key Facts

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Step into the high-ceilinged vestibule of São Bento Station and pause in wonder before the soaring walls completely covered in twenty thousand luminous blue and white ceramic azulejos. Built on the site of a sixteenth-century Benedictine convent, this French Beaux-Arts station was inaugurated in nineteen sixteen as a temple to the industrial and historical soul of Portugal. Renowned ceramic artist Jorge Colaço spent eleven years, from nineteen zero five to nineteen sixteen, meticulously hand-painting and firing every single tin-glazed tile. Look up at the epic battle scenes across the north wall: they depict the Conquest of Ceuta in fourteen fifteen and King João the First's royal entry into Porto in thirteen eighty-seven. Running along the top frieze in vivid polychrome colors is the history of transport in Portugal, from rustic oxcarts to the first steam locomotives puffing across the Douro Valley. Exit into the lively sunshine of Praça de Almeida Garrett and walk west uphill toward the towering spire of Clérigos.