Location: Porto
Top Things to do in Porto
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Things to do in Porto, Northern Portugal: The Best Sacred & Religious Sites
The town that gave the country (and port wine) its very name, Porto is Portugal’s second-largest metropolis after Lisbon. Sometimes called Oporto, it's an age-old city that has one foot firmly in the industrial present. The old town, centered at Ribeira, was built on the hills overlooking the Douro River, and today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The 14th-century São Francisco church is a main attraction, as are the local port wine cellars, mostly located across the river at Vila Nova de Gaia.
Restaurants in Porto
1. Capela da Lada
2. Capela das Almas
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,087 reviews
Reviewed By naila_al - Baku, Azerbaijan
Located in the middle of the pedestrian Santa Catarina street this beautiful church has an amazing exterior design. Take a minute (may be with coffee, as I did), sit on the bench and just observe the scenes reflected on the walls.
3. Synagogue Kadoorie - Mekor Haim
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 119 reviews
Reviewed By LoveToCTheWorld
I can't speak highly enough about the warm and inviting nature of the Porto Jewish community. Tours to see the synagogue are given in the afternoons (except Saturdays and holidays) - by previous appointment. You can just email them and set it up before your trip. If you want to attend services you will need to send a scanned copy of your passport. Hugo, the man who gives the tours of the synagogue is the nicest, warmest person with such a wealth of knowledge about Portuguese history and Portuguese Jewish history. The synagogue itself is quite impressive but Hugo's informative tour made it even more worthy as a tourist stop! He speaks several languages but our tour was in English. He showed us the small museum, the mikvah downstairs, and a beautiful sefardi sefer torah encased in silver. The community itself is fascinating - it's an Orthodox synagogue with an Orthodox rabbi but many members of the community are Reform and everyone prays together. Visitors are all welcome to join in services and I highly recommend a stop to the Porto Synagogue. It is accessible by metro (Casa da Musica stop) but it's a bit of a walk from there. I took a taxi from Porto's City Center and it was about 6 or 7 Euro.
4. Capela dos Alfaiates
5. Capela de Nossa Senhora da Silva
6. Oratorio de Sao Sebastiao
7. Porto Cathedral (Se Catedral)
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 4,654 reviews
Reviewed By 987margaretj - Salisbury, United Kingdom
The cathedral was built in the Romanesque style in the 12th and 13th centuries and extensively altered in the 17th and 18th centuries and has beautiful blue and white tiles around the cloisters. The fading murals on the ceilings give you an idea of what this place must have looked like centuries ago, absolutely beautiful. There’s also a display of vestments upstairs. It doesn’t take more than an hour to look around and is well worth it.
