Porto Scavenger Hunt - Stop 6

》Porto São Bento

Porto's São Bento Train Station is without a doubt the most visually appealing Train Station in Porto – if not in Portugal, and certainly one of the most beautiful in the world.

Upon entering the São Bento Station you find a hall decorated with the impressive sum of twenty thousand tiles.

Each one is hand-illustrated with scenes of important moments in Portuguese history, such as the battle of Valdevez, the conquest of Ceuta in 1415 or the visit of King John I with his wife Felipa of Lancaster to Porto.

The building is made of granite and was created by the architect José Marques da Silva. The tiles are the work of the artist Jorge Colaço.

The first train arrived at this site in 1896, when the building wasn’t even finished. It was officially inaugurated in 1916, but its tiles were manufactured as early as 1905.Read more