Travel Mad

As I leave the Lello bookshop in Porto I tell the owner, “This is the most beautiful bookshop I have ever seen.” Before I can finish he interrupts me with a big smile, to say “the most beautiful in the world”. And he’s not far wrong.

While not mentioned in my guide book, going by the number of people swarming around the entrance to the bookshop taking photos it is pretty well-known among tourists.

Being something of a book enthusiast myself, I am always keen to discover a new bookshop, whether home or abroad. And so, on overhearing a conversation from a rather learned-looking American couple at the tourist office in Porto about an “amazing bookshop”, my curiosity was piqued!

After negotiating the steep mediaeval streets of Porto by foot (while locals hang smugly out the side of the city’s 1920’s trams) my first attempt at seeing the bookshop was limited by it being Sunday afternoon and closed. With one day left on our short trip, the bookshop jumps to the top of the must-see list for Monday.

After a good strong European coffee and a custard-filled pastry on Monday morning I dash off, leaving my boyfriend to devour more coffee and pastries in solitude.   

 After a 15 minute scamper up, down and across the decaying back streets of Porto, I finally enter the 128 year old building, also known as the “Cathedral of Books”. The strong odour of wood greets me as I stop barely three feet inside the shop to gaze around in wonder. Books lie side by side in ancient floor to ceiling bookcases and the intricately carved wood celing is broken only by a bright red staircase which winds itself voluptuously up through the three storey building. Standing at the bottom of the staircase, I glimpse the colourful, stain glass window at the top of the building.  

Looking back at the floor I notice a single thin railway track at my feet. A large wooden trolley sits on the track a few metres away piled high with books ready to be delivered to their rightful place.

Tourist and locals alike meander dreamily among the books, admiring the architecture, and taking photos.

The bookshop’s owner for the last 20 years is Antero Braga and while he’s not exactly young, he shows no signs of waning enthusiasm for the shop. “I love this work, it is not work for me, it is amusement for me,” he says.

Having been a bookseller for the 40 years I learn that Mr Braga is the third owner and that the shop houses no less than 18,000 titles, in a wide range of languages.

On leaving the bookshop I almost collide with an old lady, her head wrapped in a threadbare scarf and her long blue skirt sweeping the pavement as she totters back and forth outside the bookshop begging. I wonder if she has been inside the bookshop.

Inside of Lello Bookshop 

To find the Lello Bookshop on a map, please click here.