Estação de São Bento (Portugal)
On September 30, 2017, the Railway Heritage World Blog went to Porto, where it could see 20.000 Portuguese tiles together composing different big blue and white panels!
The History
São Bento Railway Station was built after the arrival of the train infrastructure at the city center. Many tunnels were built to make the tracks follow their new destiny. The building was built after the demolition of São Bento da Avé-Maria Convent, which was abandoned since the end of the religious orders (1892), as a way to give some support to Douro Line. This infrastructure started to be designed in 1888, arriving to its final point in 1896.
During this same year, José Marques da Silva presented a project as a proposal to replace the big wood shed that was been used as railway station.
The design of the new station started as Marques Silva’s final graduation work in Paris. In 1899 the project was accepted to be built, but, due to the creation of some architecture details, it suffered many changes until its final shape, as you can see in the Marques da Silva Foundation website. The construction started in 1903.
The Building
Designed by a Beaux Arts style, the station is composed by a functional plan designed by orthogonal axes, 8 terminal lines, 5 loading bay, a metallic and transluced cover and 550 square meters of tiles wall along the circulation area.
The idea of using tiles as a decorative element was used to give lightness to the granite blocks used in the construction. During the Portuguese New State (1933-1974) the tiles were used as a way to preserve some National memories. In São Bento Station you can see some images of the “Battle of Valdevez”, “Infant Dom Henrique during the conquest of Ceuta” and some images of the transport history and work habits.
The author of the tile images is Jorge Colaço (1868-1942), the same artist of Marvão-Beira, Castelo de Vide, Lousão, Vila Franca de Xira, Évora and other portuguese railway stations. His work is made by oil painting and the tiles of São Bento Railway Station were produced at Fábrica Cerâmica Lusitana.
The building was inaugurated in October 5, 1916, a 101 years ago!
The Railway and the City
As an intermodal pole, this railway station has an important role in the urban life. Since 2006, São Bento Railway Station is a part of the metro system, which connects Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia by the D Line or the Yellow Line. Besides that it is integrated to the area by some coffee shops and restaurants.
Final Consideration
This railway heritage has 101 years old, it’s the owner of many grants. Since 1997 it was classified as Public Interests Monument. In 2008 the station became a part of the Historical Urban Center of Porto, being a part of the UNESCO classification. Between 2010 and 2011, the tiles were restored, a work that won the SOS Tile Grant of 2013 and the Brunel Grant of 2014. It is interesting and very beautiful the way that this huge building preserves many national moments.
