Santa Catarina Street is one of the most well known and crowded streets in Porto, it is almost 1,5 Km of stores, restaurants, cafes and hotels. Cars are not allowed in this street, which makes it great for pedestrians, street artists and street sellers to walk around freely.
Curiosity: The first Zara store to open outside of Spain, was in this street in 1988!
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Shopping is also a cultural experience here
As this street is so old and has so much history, most store facades are works of art, some are sculpted in materials such as metal, stone or wood, also some are beautiful mosaics or azulejos.
Three of the most remarkable buildings are the Palladium Galleries, designed by the architect Marques da Silva; Majestic Café, built in 1921, it has been a place where some of the most brilliant minds of Portuguese literature meet and finally the Grande Hotel do Porto, that has hosted people such as Eça de Queirós (one of the biggest Portuguese literary geniuses) and Teresa Cristina, the last empress of Brazil.
Furthermore, some well know Portuguese writers were born and raised in this street: Camilo Castelo Branco and Guerra Junqueiro are just a two examples.
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Street Performers and Street Sellers
As this street is always crowded and cars are not allowed here, it is the perfect place for street performers and street sellers to settle. All kinds of artists can be found here: Native American musicians, classic/rock musicians, violin players, accordion players, human statues, painters and even this guy making giant bubbles. Street sellers are sometimes not legal, but you'll find them a bit everywhere, selling a bit of everything: clothes, shoes, paintings, hand crafted stuff and food, mostly snacks like roasted chestnuts or hot dogs.
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Inês Tavares
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