Muralha Primitiva

Portugal’s grandest train station is only a short walk away from our apartment, and it is grand.

The Sao Bento station was built in the early 1900’s and was named after a Benedictine monastery that once occupied its space back in the 16th century. Destroyed by fire in 1783, the monastery was rebuilt, but by the 19th century was torn down to make way for the expanding railway system.

The inside of the train station is incredible. More like an art gallery. There are 20,000 hand-painted tiles that form huge wall panels depicting the history of transportation and scenes of medieval battles when Portugal and Spain were at war.

Our photos don’t really do it justice. The azulejos are very detailed and beautifully painted.

By the way, there is also a scene of the 1387 wedding, of Portugal’s king, Joao, and an English princess, Philippa, which established the Portuguese-English alliance. They had 9 children, six of whom survived infancy. I mentioned Prince Henry the Navigator in a footprint I wrote at the beginning of our trip about Sagres, the end of the world. Henry was the brains behind Portugal’s daring sea voyages in the Age of Discovery in the early 1400’s. He happened to be one of their sons.Read more