Palácio da Bolsa

Why go

The Palácio da Bolsa is the headquarters and property of the Associação Comercial do Porto, which says it began building it on 6 October 1842 on the ruins of the Convent of São Francisco, destroyed by fire in 1832 during the Siege of Porto, and that the works and decoration were completed in 1909. The association's tourism page describes the rooms of the visit, among them the Hall of Nations under its iron and glass dome, the Noble Staircase and the Arab Room, inaugurated in 1880, and says the library is not open to visitors. The association's site also presents the building as a conference centre. The tourism page says the visit is a mandatory guided tour and that the tour language is assigned in order of arrival, and the palace's home page links ticket purchases to a 'Guided Tour of the Palácio da Bolsa' page on the booking site booking.visitportoandnorth.travel. It is not the neighbouring Church of São Francisco, the convent church that survived the fire.