The
Livraria Lello at Oporto is a famous bookstore, considered as one of the world’s
most beautiful by the newspaper “The Guardian” and the Lonely Planet travel
guides.
In
1906 it was inaugurated the Livraria Lello complex, one of the most emblematic Gothic
Revival buildings at Oporto, highlighted in the urban landscape. The
architecture and the decorative elements show this beginning of the century
dominant style. The façade has an enormous arch, with a central entrance and
two shop windows at both sides. Above there are three rectangular windows with a
figure at each side, representing “Art” and “Science”.
Inside
the bookshop there are busts from famous Portuguese writers such as Antero de
Quental, Eça de Queirós or Camilo Castelo Branco. In
1995 the bookshop was restored and it was created an area to an art gallery and
another one to social gathering.
The
complex most distinguished traces are the decorated ceilings, the great stained
glass window with the inscription “Decus in Labore”, which means “Honor in Work”,
and the enormous staircase that gives access to the first floor.
This
bookstore was the scenery to some scenes of the Harry Potter movies, which is
not unusual since J. K. Rowling lived for a few years in this Portuguese city.
