Clerigos

The group called the Clergy , which includes the Church and the Tower of Clerics , designed by the Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni , is considered one of the best architectural examples of the Porto baroque. Its construction , the Brotherhood initiative of clerics , started in 1732 , leaving the church completed in 1749 and Tower in 1763 , at which this year celebrates 250 years of its construction. It is located in the historic center of Porto and integrated in the area classified by UNESCO as World Cultural Heritage since 1996 . Included in all tour guides of the city, the tower is the symbols of Porto. It is 76 meters high and a spiral staircase with 240 steps - a building that was once considered the highest of Portugal and is classified as a national monument since 1910. It is must see and more than 120,000 visitors a year come to city and the Douro river from the Tower top.

From almost every place in Porto you'll be able to see Torre dos Clérigos (or Cleric's tower). It is the most emblematic monument of Porto's landscape and it is also very important to history.

It is not only a tower, but also a big church that used to be the headquarters of a civil association to help the church members during difficult times. The group would gather donations and organize events to help poor priests and catholic comunities.

Nowadays the association doesn't exist anymore, but the church and the tower still promote religious events and they are also open for tourism. You can enter the church for free, and for only 4 euros you can go up the tower and see the hole city from the top. Also, there is a small exposition of the churches history in the way up. Certainly worth it!

History and architecture

The Clerigos church and tower were built in the 18th century by the architect Nicolau Nasoni. It is made in granite and it has an imposing dome. The monument represents the rococo art movement and it also the most famous Nasoni work.

Location

It is located in a very tourist area in Porto, in the end of Clerigo's street, very near Praça da Liberdade (Liberty square) and Carmelitas Street.

You can get there by subway or train from the São Bento station, and it is just some minutes walking to other important tourist places, such as Livraria Lello, University of Porto, and even Mercado do Bolhão, Santa Catarina street and Ribeira, if you enjoy walking around.