Piscina das Marés

Álvaro Siza designed and built the Piscina das Marés between 1960 and 1973, early in his career and in his home town, and it is among the most studied pieces of twentieth-century Portuguese architecture. The design refuses to announce itself: from the coast road there is only a low concrete wall, and the building is below road level, so bathers walk down a ramped concrete passage that turns, narrows, hides the sea entirely and then releases it all at once at the far end. The pools themselves are formed by concrete walls linking existing rock outcrops, filled with seawater, so the boundary between built and natural is deliberately unclear. It was renovated in 2004 and again in 2019-2021 with Siza involved, and it has been a national monument since 2011. It operates as a public swimming facility in summer, which is the correct way to see it - not as a monument but full of families.

History

Álvaro Siza designed the pools from 1960 and they were finished in 1973, without the restaurant included in a plan of 1961. They were repaired in 2004 after the theft of their copper covering, renovated in 2019-2021 at a cost of 1.3 million euros, classified as a national monument in 2011 and placed on Portugal's tentative UNESCO list in 2017 (Wikipedia, Tidal pools of Leça de Palmeira).

Highlights

• The concealed entrance - a building below road level revealed only on the walk down.
• The ramped passage - a route that hides the sea and then opens it at once.
• The pools - concrete walls joining existing rock outcrops, filled with seawater.
• The working use - a public pool full of families, not a preserved monument.

When to go

June to September, when the pools operate. Two to four hours. Outside the season the structure can be seen from outside but not entered.

Good to know

It opens only in summer - out of season the gates are shut. Cold Atlantic seawater. It is a working municipal pool, so it is crowded on hot days and the architecture competes with families. Concrete surfaces get hot underfoot.

Nearby

The Boa Nova tea house, also by Siza, is a short walk north; Matosinhos is south.

Key facts