São Bento railway station

Porto's São Bento railway station, opened in 1916 on the site of a former Benedictine monastery, was designed by architect José Marques da Silva and sits at the edge of the historic city center. Its entrance hall is lined with approximately 20,000 hand-painted azulejo tiles by artist Jorge Colaço, executed between 1905 and 1916 and depicting scenes from Portuguese history — including the 1415 conquest of Ceuta and the triumphal entry of King João I into Porto. The monastery that once stood here, the Mosteiro de São Bento de Avé-Maria, survives only in name; the station was built over its remains after the religious orders were dissolved. Still a functioning regional rail hub with lines to the Douro Valley and Braga, the tiled concourse doubles as one of Portugal's most visited pieces of public art.