São Bento Station

São Bento opened in 1916 on the site of a Benedictine monastery, in a beaux-arts building by José Marques da Silva, and its atrium is the reason people who have no train to catch walk in. Jorge Colaço spent eleven years, from 1905 to 1916, covering the walls with around twenty thousand azulejos - blue and white panels of Portuguese historical scenes above a frieze in colour showing transport through the ages, with the big compositions being the conquest of Ceuta in 1415, João I's entry into Porto, the Battle of Valdevez and the meeting of Egas Moniz with the king of León. It is a working commuter and regional station, so the hall is crossed constantly by people with luggage and season tickets, which is the appeal: it is not a museum. Trains to the Douro valley leave from here.

What you actually see

• The azulejo hall - around twenty thousand tiles applied between 1905 and 1916.
• The historical panels - Ceuta, Valdevez and João I's entry into Porto.
• The colour frieze - transport through the ages running below the main scenes.
• The working station - a commuter hall, not a preserved monument.

When to go

Year-round. Thirty minutes. Early morning or late evening for photographs without crowds; the hall is busy all day otherwise.

Honest expectations

It is one room, and thirty minutes is generous. Extremely crowded with tour groups and photographers through the day. It is an operating station - people are trying to catch trains. Pickpocketing occurs in the crush.

Nearby

Porto cathedral is uphill; Avenida dos Aliados and Clérigos are west.