Livraria Lello

In the heart of Porto, a few steps from the Clérigos tower, Livraria Lello is one of the oldest bookshops in Portugal and one of the most beautiful in the world. Its neo-gothic facade opens onto an interior of carved wood, stained glass and a sweeping crimson staircase that has made it famous across the globe.

History and identity

The bookshop opened in 1906, in a building designed for the Lello brothers with an interior by the engineer Xavier Esteves. Its curved staircase, its wooden ceiling and its skylight made it a masterpiece of early twentieth-century shop design, and it has been a meeting point of Porto’s readers and writers ever since.

What to find and discover

• The great staircase, the bookshop’s signature image.
• The neo-gothic facade and the stained-glass skylight.
• Shelves of Portuguese and international literature, in many languages.
• A historic corner of Porto, beside the Clérigos tower and the Lello quarter.

Products and specialities

The shop is a working bookshop first of all, with a curated selection of titles and editions. Visits are managed with tickets to protect the space, and the details of access and opening hours should be confirmed on the official website.

Nearby

The bookshop is in the historic centre of Porto, close to the Palácio da Bolsa and the city’s great museums, and the market tradition of the north continues at the Feira de Barcelos. The São Bento station, with its twenty thousand tiles, is five minutes away.

Visiting

Livraria Lello is on Rua das Carmelitas, in central Porto, reached on foot from the Clérigos area. Check the official website for visiting conditions before your visit.

Information: livrarialello.pt.

Image credit: Interior of Livraria Lello, Porto, by John Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.