Top things to do in Porto

Avenida dos Aliados

The Center Avenue of the City

Aliados Avenue is one of the most important streets in the city of Porto. Together with Praça da Liberdade and General Humberto Delgado Square, it marks the center of the city. Its name is the homage to the Allied countries of the First World War.

The construction of the Avenue began in 1916 and would destroy the old palace building of the county, as well as short streets and alleys.

More recently, the construction of Line D of the Metro do Porto, led to a complete reformulation of the avenue, an intervention carried out in 2005 and designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira and Eduardo Souto Moura. This intervention resulted in a large plaza paved in granite and where a mirror of water is highlighted.

In front of the City Hall building, in General Humberto Delgado Square, there is the statue of Almeida Garrett, a monument reminiscent of the writer and playwright born in Oporto. This sculpture was inaugurated in 1954 to mark the centenary of the poet.

At the other end of Avenue, further down in Praça da Liberdade, there is also the equestrian statue of D. Pedro IV, inaugurated in 1866.

The imposing architecture and central character make Aliados Avenue the "living room" of the city, where some of the main events are held and special moments are celebrated.