Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
• Directly across the street from where you got off the Elevador da Glória is the...
PortWineInstitute:
If you're into port (the fortified wine that takes its name from
the city of Porto, covered later in this topic), you'll find the world's greatest selection at
Solar do Vinho do Porto
(run by the Port Wine Institute, Mon-Sat 11:00-24:00, closed
Sun, WCs, Rua São Pedro de Alcântara 45, tel. 213-475-707,
www.ivdp.pt
). You're wel-
come to go in to simply browse even if you're not drinking. The plush, air-conditioned,
Old World living room is furnished with leather chairs (this is not a shorts-and-T-shirt
kind of place). You can order from a selection of over 150 different ports, €1.50-22 per
glass, generally poured by an English-speaking bartender. (You might want to try only 50
or so, and save the rest for the next night.) Read the very instructive menu for an educa-
tion in port. Fans of port describe it as “a liquid symphony playing on the palate.” Browse
through the easy menu. Start white and sweet (cheapest), taste your way through spicy
and ruby, and finish mellow and tawny. A
colheita
(single harvest) is particularly good.
Appetizers
(aperitivos)
are listed in the menu with small photographs. Seated service can
be slow and disinterested when it's busy. To be served without a long wait, go to the bar.
Enjoy the Douro Valley photos, maps, and models of traditional boats that add to the port-
• Follow the main street (Rua São Pedro de Alcântara) downhill a couple of blocks.
Throughout this walk, look up and notice the fine tile work—both old and modern—on the
buildings. When you reach the small square, Largo Trindade Coelho, on your left you'll
see...
São Roque Church:
Step inside, and then sit on a pew in the middle to take it all
in (free, Tue-Sun 9:00-18:00, closed Mon, tiles explained in English leaflet available near
the door). Built in the 16th century, the church of St. Roque is one of Portugal's first Jesuit
churches. The painted wood, false-domed ceiling is perfectly flat. The acoustics here are
top-notch, important in a Jesuit church, where the emphasis is on the sermon (given from
twin pulpits mid-nave). The numbered panels on the floor are tombs, nameless because
they were for lots of people. They're empty now—the practice was stopped in the 19th
century when parishioners didn't want plague victims rotting under their feet.
Survey the rich side chapels. The highlight is the Chapel of St. John the Baptist (left
of altar, gold and blue lapis lazuli columns). It looks like it came right out of the Vat-
ican—and that's because it did. Made in Rome out of the most precious materials, the
chapel was the site of one papal Mass; then it was disassembled and shipped to Lisbon.
Per square inch, it was the most costly chapel ever constructed in Portugal. Notice the
mosaic floor (with the spherical symbol of Portugal) and the three “paintings” that are
actually intricate, beautiful mosaics—a Vatican specialty, designed to avoid damage from
candle smoke that would darken real paintings. To the right, a glass case is filled with
