Church of São Francisco

Church of São Francisco tickets: which one to buy

The church of Sao Francisco stands just above the Ribeira waterfront in Porto, beside the Stock Exchange Palace, and it is no longer used for regular worship: it is run as a monument, and the ticket, bought in the building opposite the church door, covers the church, a small museum of religious art and the catacombs beneath. Photography inside the church is not allowed, which is worth knowing before you go.

Almost every walking tour of Porto's historic centre passes this corner, since it lies on the route between the cathedral, the Stock Exchange and the riverside, and many stop long enough for a visit. The Stock Exchange Palace next door has its own guided tours with timed tickets, and the two make a sensible pair in a single morning. River cruises and the port wine cellars across the bridge in Gaia fill the rest of most days here. The church is steep uphill from the river, so allow for a short climb.

Visiting Church of São Francisco: what to see

The Franciscans built a Gothic church here in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and from outside it still looks like a sober medieval building of grey granite with a rose window. Inside, the effect is completely different. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries almost every surface was covered with carved wood coated in gold leaf, the Portuguese talha dourada, climbing over the columns, arches, altars and chapels in a dense tangle of vines, birds, cherubs and saints; local tradition speaks of hundreds of kilograms of gold.

The most famous piece is the Tree of Jesse, a carved and gilded altarpiece showing the genealogy of Christ as a tree growing from the reclining figure of Jesse. So much extravagance troubled the church authorities, and services were later stopped. Beneath the adjoining house of the brotherhood lie the catacombs, where members were buried, with an ossuary visible through a glass floor. A carved stone figure of Saint Francis stands above the side portal facing the square, one of the few original Gothic sculptures to survive.

Church of São Francisco opening hours and the best time to go

The church is open daily, with longer hours in summer and shorter ones in winter. Mornings are the quietest time, before the tour groups reach the Ribeira. Porto is busiest from spring to autumn and at weekends, and the riverfront below is crowded in the evenings. Winters are mild but wet, and the church is a good choice on a rainy day. The festival of Saint John on the night of 23 June is the city's greatest party, when the whole Ribeira fills with crowds, grilled sardines and plastic hammers.

The Stock Exchange tours run at fixed times and can sell out, so book one before visiting the church. Allow about forty minutes for the church, museum and catacombs, and then walk down to the river and across the lower deck of the iron bridge. Tram line 1 runs along the river from Infante to the mouth of the Douro and stops close to the church.