Sé do Porto

In Porto, Sé do Porto is a cathedral whose Romanesque-Gothic structure began taking shape during the twelfth century. Battlements give the exterior a church-fortress appearance, while a large twelfth-century rose window marks the façade. Later Baroque remodelling added Nicolau Nasoni’s loggia, completed in 1736 and facing the city.

Inside, clustered pillars and slightly pointed vaults draw your eye upward through the sober central nave. The main chapel combines a Mannerist design from around 1610 with an eighteenth-century gilded wood altarpiece. A large silver altar stands in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, alongside a modern lampstand designed by Teixeira Lopes. Two pipe organs rise above the chapter choir stalls, while a larger instrument occupies the high choir.

Seven eighteenth-century azulejo panels line the Gothic cloister with scenes from the Song of Songs. Nasoni’s grand staircase, finished in 1736, leads towards an upper courtyard with panoramic views and tiled rural scenes. Casa do Cabido preserves sculptures, liturgical objects, vestments, and books across four vaulted rooms, with the treasure displayed in nine large showcases.