Palácio da Bolsa

The Palácio da Bolsa, on Rua Ferreira Borges, stands in Porto’s Historic Centre, beside the former Convent of São Francisco. Its origin is linked to the fire of 1832, during the Siege of Porto, which left the convent in ruins. After the closure of the Casa da Bolsa do Comércio, Porto’s merchants sought a headquarters of their own; the first stone was laid in 1842 by the Associação Comercial do Porto, following a design by the architect Joaquim da Costa Lima. The neoclassical building, classified as a National Monument, is organised around the Pátio das Nações, covered by a glazed metal structure. From the 1860s onwards, the interiors gained greater decorative richness. The Arab Room, conceived by Gustavo Adolfo Gonçalves e Sousa, was inaugurated in 1880 and evokes the Alhambra. Between staircases, noble rooms and ornamented surfaces, the palace preserves the economic, artistic and civic memory of 19th-century Porto.