Porto Cathedral (Sé)

In front of you is the oldest building in the city still standing and still in use. To understand Porto you have to start here, on the Pena Ventosa hill, where the medieval town grew up huddled around its cathedral.

1A town owned by its bishop

In 1120 Countess Teresa, mother of Portugal's first king, granted the town of Porto to Bishop Hugo. For centuries the city was a bishop's lordship, and clashes between bishops, merchants and kings shaped its medieval life. The cathedral you see was begun in the 12th century in the Romanesque style, which is why it looks more like a fortress than a church, with battlements and massive granite walls.

2A wedding that changed history

In 1387 King John I of Portugal married Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, here. The marriage sealed the alliance with England, the oldest in Europe still in force, and produced the princes known as the «illustrious generation», among them Henry the Navigator.

The Sé is Romanesque in its bones, Gothic in its cloister and Baroque in many of its additions: seven centuries of building in a single structure.

The esplanade you are standing on, by contrast, is recent. It was cleared around 1940, when the medieval houses crowding around the cathedral were pulled down.

3What to look for

• The Romanesque rose window on the façade, between the two towers, under a battlemented arch.
• The Baroque side gallery added by Nicolau Nasoni around 1736 on the north side.
• The pillory in the middle of the square: it is not medieval at all, it was put up in 1945.