Former Relação Prison

Look at the bars on these windows: for almost two centuries there were prisoners behind them. This building was both the court of appeal for northern Portugal and a jail, and within its walls one of the great Portuguese novels was born.

1A palace for punishment

It was built in the second half of the 18th century, on the initiative of the governor João de Almada e Melo, to a design attributed to Eugénio dos Santos, one of the architects of Lisbon's rebuilding after the earthquake. Downstairs were the common cells; upstairs, the court and the cells of those who could pay for some comfort.

2The most famous prisoner

In 1860 the writer Camilo Castelo Branco was locked up here, accused of adultery by the husband of Ana Plácido, who was also imprisoned, in the women's wing. They spent more than a year in custody until the court acquitted them in October 1861. In his cell Camilo wrote «Amor de Perdição» («Doomed Love»), the story of a forbidden love that ends in prison and exile. He himself said he wrote it in about fifteen days.

Among Camilo's fellow inmates was Zé do Telhado, a bandit from the Minho whom the writer portrayed in his «Memórias do Cárcere».

The prison closed in 1974. Since 1997 the building has housed the Portuguese Centre of Photography, and the square at the entrance is now called Largo Amor de Perdição.

3What to look for

• The bars on the low windows, those of the common cells.
• The statue of Camilo and Ana Plácido in the nearby garden, by Francisco Simões.
• The name of the square, a tribute to the novel.