The story
▶ Tap any paragraph to hear it narrated
For two centuries, this was the street of the ironmongers and cutlers. The old Rua das Hortas of 1718 was its seed; the new street extended it in a single line. This straight axis follows the line of an ancient Roman road that once led toward Braga.
The street was the first major way built outside the medieval city walls. Overseen by João de Almada e Melo starting in 1761, its construction was funded by a tax of one real on every half-liter of wine sold in the city. Francisco Xavier do Rego and Pinheiro da Cunha drew the line, and the Junta das Obras Públicas required every façade to follow one uniform front, leading up to the barracks at Praça de Santo Ovídio, today’s Praça da República.
The hotel records note that construction began here on September 1, 1939. Its upper floors were originally occupied by a textile workers’ union before the guesthouse opened in 1953. Inside, the hotel attributes its Art Deco staircase to Germano Castro Pinheiro, and it says the name was borrowed from Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf to catch the eye of Brazilian guests. Up the street, the statues of Saint Joseph and Saint Joachim by the sculptor Soares dos Reis stand on the front of the Capela dos Pestanas, built between 1878 and 1890.
That was Rua do Almada, Porto, Portugal. Avsha tells a story like this about wherever you are — any street, in your language.
Free to start, no account.