Porto Cathedral

The Sé do Porto was begun in the twelfth century on the high ground above the river and built like a fortress - twin square towers, crenellations, a rose window and a west front with almost no openings, because the cathedral was part of the city's defences. Later centuries softened it: a baroque loggia by Nasoni on the north side, a silver altarpiece in one chapel that survived the French invasion because the canons plastered over it, and a Gothic cloister of the fourteenth century whose walls were lined in the 1730s with blue azulejo panels illustrating the Song of Songs and Ovid's Metamorphoses. João I married Philippa of Lancaster here in 1387, the marriage that produced Henry the Navigator and sealed the alliance with England. The terrace outside gives the Ribeira roofs, the Douro and the Dom Luís bridge.

What you actually see

• The fortified front - twin towers and crenellations on a cathedral built for defence.
• The tiled cloister - fourteenth-century Gothic lined with 1730s azulejo panels.
• The hidden silver - an altarpiece plastered over to save it from the French.
• The terrace - Ribeira rooftops, the Douro and the Dom Luís bridge below.

When to go

Year-round. One to two hours. Mornings are quieter; the terrace fills with tour groups and buskers through the day.

Honest expectations

Cloister and treasury are ticketed separately from the free nave. Very crowded on the terrace outside. The climb from the river is steep. Services close parts of the building.

Nearby

São Bento station is downhill; the Ribeira and the bridge are below.