Rua Santa Catarina

The Santa Catarina Street, with about 1.5km long, is considered for excellence the most commercial and traditional street of Baixa do Porto. In it you can hear the street vendors' bargains, street music in the summer, the smell of baked chestnuts in the winter, be part of the shopping bustle.

This street owes its name to the Chapel of Souls, the blue-tiled church, dedicated to Santa Catarina de Alexandria and has its construction as it is today in the 18th century, with the new urban planning implemented by Almadas (a family fromOporto that dedicated itself to city planning and city growth).

With a closer look you can see some examples of new art façades as well as the details of the Portuguese sidewalk. This street is also home to the famous Café Majestic, inaugurated in 1921, the Palladium building in Marques da Silva, which now houses Fnac, the Grande Hotel do Porto, from the end of the 19th century, where one of the most well-known Portuguese writers was Guest, Eça de Queirós, the Great and beautiful Bolhão Market, the said Chapel of Souls, to which the street owes its name, among many other things.

It is one of the important places of passage for those who want to breathe the spirit of the city.