Chapel of Souls (Capela das Almas)

Start the walk with your eyes wide open. In front of you is the Porto image most reproduced on postcards and fridge magnets: a chapel turned into a giant picture book of azulejos.

1An 18th-century chapel

Originally there was a wooden chapel here dedicated to Saint Catherine. The present building dates from the late 18th century, when the Brotherhood of the Souls and Wounds of Saint Francis moved in; hence its popular name, Capela das Almas, the Chapel of Souls. It was enlarged and restored in 1801.

2Tiles from 1929

For more than a century the outside was simply whitewashed plaster. The cladding you see dates from 1929: some 15,947 tiles covering about 360 square metres. They were designed by Eduardo Leite and made by the Viúva Lamego factory in Lisbon, in the style of the great blue and white panels of the 18th century.

They may look old, but these tiles are less than a hundred years old: a 20th-century tribute to the Baroque tradition.

The scenes tell episodes from the lives of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Catherine. Walk around the chapel to follow them like the panels of a comic strip.

3What to look for

• The panels on the side wall, on Rua de Fernandes Tomás, the largest of all.
• The painted frames imitating Baroque mouldings around each scene.
• Rua de Santa Catarina, the great shopping street that starts here: further down is Café Majestic, opened in 1921.