Porto Modernist Architecture Half Day Private Tour

The Tour starts in the best way with an external visit to the recently renovated and beautiful building of Cinema Batalha, one of the best examples of Portuguese Modernist architecture in the heart of the city. It is a work by the architects Artur Andrade and Sérgio Fernandez, inaugurated in 1946, which had a social and cultural impact due to the expressionism of its modernist lines.

It is one of the most emblematic buildings in Porto, very frequented and cherished by the population of Porto as it is, until today, its largest show and concert hall, with a capacity for around 2000 people, where over the decades great names in national and international music have performed. International. Located on a street with a steep slope, this beautiful and imposing building, which extends over a block, was inaugurated in 1940 and has since made the city more cosmopolitan. It has a modernist architecture with an international style, namely "De Stijl", which stood out in central Europe during the period of the "Modern Movement", and was designed by three Portuguese architects, among which the name of Cassiano Branco stands out. , as an important Portuguese architect and urban planner of the last century.

External visit to the Garagem Passos Manuel building, which is located opposite the Oporto Coliseum and is a project by the Portuguese architect Mário Abreu, inaugurated in 1939. It has an "Art Deco" layout, has 4 floors and stands out for the map of Portugal in neon where the circulation routes that connected the North to the South of the country at that time are drawn. Physical and material symbol of the fruit of the industrialization of large cities at the beginning of the 20th century. XX, here parked cars heading to downtown Porto in the 40s.

External visit to Praça de D. João I, whose name honors the tenth king of Portugal, who was married in Porto in 1387. This large square is located right in the center of the city and is surrounded by several emblematic buildings of Portuguese modernist architecture from the 17th century. XX that you can visit, such as the Teatro Rivoli, the Palácio Atlântico and the Rialto Building, which at the time was the tallest in the city.

Avenida dos Aliados is an important street in the parish of Santo Ildefonso, in downtown Porto. With Praça da Liberdade and Praça do General Humberto Delgado, it forms a continuous urban fabric, having been rehabilitated over the centuries by renowned Portuguese architects Siza Vieira and Souto de Moura. It is considered the living room and the main avenue in the center of Porto.

External visit to Garagem do Comércio do Porto, by the architect Rogério de Azevedo.

External visit to the Armazéns Cunha building, which are housed in a magnificent Art Deco building designed by the architect Manuel Marques (1890-1956) and his associates Amoroso Lopes and Coelho Freitas. They combined three 19th-century buildings into a single Art Deco façade. It is easily recognized by the peacock with open feathers on the building's facade. Centenary warehouses in downtown Porto specializing in household items. The furniture is original, transforming a visit to this store into an extraordinary journey into the past.

External visit to the Pasteur Laboratories building, by the Portuguese architect Keil do Amaral – one of the important defenders of Renewal and Modernism in Portugal – who, in 1934, carried out one of his few works in the north of the country and in Porto. It is located on a street with a steep slope and in a busy commercial area, full of urban history, very close to the Church and Torre dos Clérigos, one of the city's icons. It is a small but emblematic work of contemporary character, whose street façade stands out among the side buildings due to its difference in architectural language and materials, being an innovative intervention at the time.

The tour ends with an external visit to Farmácia Vitália, an establishment located in the Palácio das Cardosas, former Convent of Lóios or Santo Elói, in the heart of Praça da Liberdade, right in the center of the city, with immediate access to transport and close to hotels. . It was classified as a “Public Interest Complex”, thanks to its façade designed in 1932 by the architects Manuel Marques and Amoroso Lopes. It is a profoundly modern and contemporary work in a historic building, with an austere and sober character as is the Palácio das Cardosas, where the Intercontinental Hotel is also located.