Klemio
Capela das Almas
This is a five minute stop, and that is fine. The Capela das Almas is a small chapel on the main shopping street whose entire side and front are wrapped in blue-and-white azulejos, and you come to stand across the street and look at the tiles. The interior is modest and you can pop in for a moment, but the facade is the show. It sits right on Rua de Santa Catarina, so you will pass it anyway while shopping or walking to Bolhao.
Photos: Krzysztof Golik (CC BY-SA 4.0), Tsy1980 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Krzysztof Golik (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
A free five minute stop for one of Porto's best tiled facades, conveniently right on the main shopping street. Worth the pause, but not a destination in itself.
Worth it for
- Anyone already walking Rua de Santa Catarina toward Bolhao or Cafe Majestic
- Travelers collecting Porto's azulejo facades in one walk
You can skip if
- You are short on time and have already seen plenty of tiled buildings
- You expect a substantial church interior rather than a facade
Tickets & tours for Capela das Almas
Which ticket should you buy?
The tiles
Roughly 16,000 azulejo tiles cover the exterior, and despite looking 18th century they were actually added much later. Eduardo Leite painted the blue-and-white panels in 1929, in a deliberately older style, depicting scenes from the lives of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Catherine, the chapel's dedicatee. The corner position means the tilework wraps two visible faces, which is why it photographs so well.
Cross to the far pavement to take it in properly. Up close you lose the overall composition, and the narrow street makes a straight-on shot hard, so a bit of distance helps. Morning light tends to be kinder on the main facade.
Inside the chapel
The interior is small and plain compared with the facade, with 19th century stained glass and a quiet, working-church feel. It is a genuine place of worship, so dress and behave accordingly, and be aware services do happen. A couple of minutes is enough unless you have a particular interest in church interiors.
Entry is free. There is no ticket and no queue in the normal sense, though the doorway can get briefly congested when a tour group stops for photos. Keep it short and you will not clash with anyone.
Fitting it into your day
Because it is on Rua de Santa Catarina, the city's main pedestrian shopping street, you do not really make a special trip for it. You fold it in. It is a couple of minutes from Mercado do Bolhao and close to Cafe Majestic, so the natural plan is tiles, then market, or tiles, then coffee.
Opening hours follow a church pattern: open through the day on weekdays, with shorter or split hours at the weekend around Mass. The facade, of course, is visible from the street at any hour, so even a closed chapel does not waste the stop.
Photographing it well
The street is busy and narrow, so getting a clean shot takes a little patience. Step back onto the opposite pavement, wait for a gap in the pedestrians, and shoot slightly upward. Early morning before the shops fill up is the calmest window.
If azulejos are the reason you are in Porto, pair this with Sao Bento station's tiled hall and the Igreja do Carmo's tiled side wall to see three different scales of the same craft in one walk.
Capela das Almas: FAQs
Yes. There is no entry fee. You can admire the tiled exterior from the street any time and step inside the small chapel for free during open hours.
The exterior tiles look antique but were painted by Eduardo Leite in 1929 in a deliberately older style. There are around 16,000 of them.
Briefly. The interior is small and plain next to the facade, with 19th century stained glass. The tiled exterior is the real draw.
On Rua de Santa Catarina at number 428, the main pedestrian shopping street, a couple of minutes from Mercado do Bolhao.
Five minutes is plenty for most people: a look at the facade and a quick step inside. Photographers may linger a little longer for the right shot.
It follows a church schedule, open through the day on weekdays with shorter, split hours at weekends around Mass. The exterior is visible from the street at all hours regardless.
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