Top things to do in Porto

Igreja de S. Francisco

The Igreja de S. Francisco was built in the 14th century, in the place where there was a humble temple that belonged to the order of the Franciscans who had settled in the city of Oporto in 1223. The present one is of gothic-mendicant root (that is, constituted by three naves). It was later, in the baroque era, completely filled with gold carvings, thus becoming one of the most well-crafted and beautiful of Oporto, even being called the "Golden Church".

During the liberal wars, in 1833, part of the monastery was destroyed because of the heavy fire of the absolutist troops, and from there resulted the space that would become the commercial square, in which today is the beautiful neoclassical building of the Palácio da Bolsa.

Part of the whole complex are the Casa do Despacho designed by Nicolau Nasoni, the catacombs, and the church of the veneravél ordem terceira de São Francisco, Porto's first neoclassical church, where now exists a museum of religious art.

Since 1910 it is National Monument and since 1996 Cultural Heritage of Humanity.