Our first full morning dawned in the Portuguese city of Porto. Port is north of Lisbon at the mouth of the Douro River. It is the ancestral home of my wife whose roots go back to Porto on her father’s side. It is an old city and also hilly. Over the next few days we would be doing a lot of walking up and down those hills.
Porto also has many churches. Sometimes it seems that the churches are right next to each other which seemed odd to have churches so close to each other when they are mostly Catholic. The first church we visited today caught my eye mostly because of the green trees in front of it. These were the first green trees I had seen in a long time, and they really struck me as a sign of spring. Inside the Igreja da Trindade was a large sanctuary with two side chapels near the front creating a cross. This is a frequent design layout in Catholic churches.
The next church we visited was much darker inside and smaller. Its beginnings date back to 1657. The interior of Igreja de Santo António dos Congregados is much simpler than some of the other Catholic churches I have seen. However, a lot of gold covered the surfaces throughout the church.
One of the unique features of this church and some of the other churches in Porto is the use of tile on the exterior. Blue and white tiles are a traditional item in Portugal. They can be used to create a pattern or tell a story. Artists often painted a large mural on tiles in blue and white. The front of Igreja de Santo António dos Congregados has quite a bit of beautiful tile work on it creating a different facade than one usually thinks of for churches. `At the peak of the front of the church is a statue of Saint Anthony.
If you read last week’s post, you may remember I was looking for a specific church I saw from a distance. After seeing the first two churches, I spotted the church again and tried to figure out how to get there. As we tried to find the right path to take, Silvette noticed a tour group. She thought we should follow them as they were probably going to the church as well. She was right, and we finally made it to the church.
Igreja dos Clérigos sits up on a hill so it’s a climb to get to the church. It also has a tall tower so it can be easy to spot from a distance. However, when we arrived, we learned that there was an admission charge for the church and a program they offered. The line was long at the time, and it was cheaper later in the day so we decided to wait for a later time. We did enjoy the view looking back downhill from the church.
We then did what we do best; we wandered. With no specific plans at that moment, we walked past the Palácio da Bolsa, the old stock exchange building, and eventually ended up down at the riverfront. That place was hopping. There were restaurants and seating all along the river. Ticket booths for boat tours dotted the sidewalks. Different musicians played or sang trying to entertain an audience. It was a lively and crowded place. After hanging out there for a while, we eventually walked up to a walkway above the main riverfront level along the riverside buildings. We could still see all the action, but it was less crowded. We could also see across the Douro River to Vila Nova de Gaia.
All along the riverfront we could see a nearby bridge with two levels, the Luiz I Bridge. A lower level connected the riverfront on one side to the riverfront on the other. Directly above it was a much higher bridge. The light rail ran across the upper bridge and to a place that looked like a fort on the other side. After some debate we decided we would walk across the upper bridge and see what the fort was all about. We wandered along the riverside to the other side of the bridge first, but didn’t find much of interest there.
We then began to go up. A series of stairs started on one side of the bridge and crossed under the bridge eventually coming out on top. It was a very long flight of stairs, and it took us a while to make it up with a number of stops for taking photos and catching our breath along the way. We eventually made it. We wandered around some and ended up at a place where a number of artisans were selling their art and jewelry. These kinds of places seem pretty common throughout the city.
After leaving the market area we found our way over to the upper bridge. The views from the bridge over the city were amazing. It provided rooftop views, which means lots of red tiled roofs.
Reaching the other side we walked up to where we thought there was a fort. It wasn’t. It was actually another church and a monastery, Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar. Unfortunately the monastery was closed to visitors as they are doing some restoration work. Nevertheless, we were able to be in the outer court which had amazing views of the river below and Porto on the other side.
This day was Good Friday, and we had decided earlier we would attend a Good Friday service. I liked the feel of the first church we had visited that day, Igreja da Trindade. We had checked out the time of their service, and so it was time to head back to the church. By the time the service was under way, the church had pretty well filled up. It wasn’t packed out, but there was a good number of people attending.
Understandably the church didn’t permit photography during the service so I can only tell you about it. It was all in Portuguese, of course, but with my Spanish background, I could pick up a few things here and there. I don’t know what the first scripture read was, but I’m pretty sure the second one was Isaiah 53. The final scripture read was one of the gospel versions of the story from Jesus’ time in Gethsemane to the crucifixion itself.
Between the scriptures there was music. For the first one the leader would sing a verse and then the congregation would join together on a short chorus. The second song was by a small group of singers. Then came the sermon. I understood a few things, but overall I didn’t get the thrust of the sermon.
Then things got interesting. From the back of the sanctuary there came a small procession with a crucifix held high while two other men held candles. They walked to the front of the sanctuary where the clerical leaders took turns kissing the crucifix. After someone kissed it, a priest used a cloth to wipe over the crucifix. Then they gave the entire congregation the opportunity to come and kiss the crucifix. Most did. Some would bow very low before kissing it, others would just move forward and kiss it.
I’ll admit I found it all a little strange. I can see that the people would think it as an act of reverence or worship. However to me as an Evangelical Christian the worship seemed misplaced because Jesus is not dead. The line to kiss the crucifix seemed to go on forever so we finally left the service so I am not sure how the service actually ended. It was certainly a unique Good Friday service for me.
After the service Silvette wanted pizza so we found a place for pizza. I was surprised they had Hawaiian pizza on the menu. It was good, but the crust was very thin so not quite filling. That made it OK to go in search of some ice cream for dessert. It took a while wandering the streets, but we found some. Then it was back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.
Porto has proven to be a much more interesting city than we had originally gathered from the area where our hotel is located. The historic area and the waterfront are teeming with people. Since it is Easter weekend, I’m sure that has helped to swell the crowds, but we have still been surprised at how busy the city is. We still have a couple more days to explore this area so be sure to check back next week.
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Credit: The photos of pizza and ice cream taken by Silvette Lee