Hotels near Porto Cathedral

The Sé do Porto crowns the highest point of the old city, a granite fortress-church begun in the early 12th century and the oldest surviving building in Porto. The Romanesque core has the rose window and twin towers of a French abbey, while later Gothic and baroque additions - the cloister with its 18th-century azulejo panels by António Vital Rifarto, the silver altar in the chapel of the Holy Sacrament - layer the building like geological strata.

Porto Cathedral played a quiet role in Anglo-Portuguese diplomacy: King John I of Portugal married Philippa of Lancaster here in 1387, cementing the Treaty of Windsor that remains the oldest still-active diplomatic alliance in the world. Entry to the church itself is free. The cloister and treasury cost ~3 EUR and are worth it for the tile work alone. The cathedral terrace, free of charge, offers one of the most under-appreciated viewpoints in Porto - the entire Ribeira and Dom Luís I Bridge spread out below.

Pro Tip: Walk down the steep Calçada de Vandoma directly from the cathedral terrace to São Bento Station and Praça da Ribeira. Doing the route in this direction saves your knees and follows the natural tourist flow.