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The ruins
A fire in 1832 destroyed the convent cloisters, and merchants got the ruins
The palace is beside the St Francis Church, once part of a convent founded in the 13th century. In 1832, during the Liberal Wars, a fire destroyed the cloisters, sparing the church. In 1841 Queen Mary II donated the ruins to the merchants of the city.
The build
Building began in 1842, but the interior was finished only in 1910
Building work began in 1842 to plans by the Porto architect Joaquim da Costa Lima Júnior, who designed a Neoclassical palace of Palladian influence. Most of it was finished by 1850, but the interior decoration was completed in 1910.
The courtyard
The Nations' Courtyard sits under an octagonal metal dome
The central courtyard is covered by a large metallic, octagonal dome with glass panels, designed by Tomás Soler and built after 1880. Its lower part carries the painted coats-of-arms of Portugal and the countries it traded with in the 19th century.
The stairway
A stairway of 1868 leads up under frescoed ceilings
A stairway built in 1868 by Gonçalves e Sousa leads to the upper storeys. It is adorned with busts by António Soares dos Reis and António Teixeira Lopes, and the ceiling frescoes were painted by António Ramalho.
The Arab Room
The Arab Room, built between 1862 and 1880, is the highlight
The highlight of the palace is the Arab Room, built between 1862 and 1880 by Gonçalves e Sousa. It is decorated in the Moorish Revival style, fashionable in the 19th century, and is a reception hall for heads of state visiting Porto.
Day 2, afternoon
It comes after Clérigos Tower. Then Bolhão Market.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Palácio da Bolsa, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.