Heritage value of cemeteries in Porto highlighted in the new touristic promotional video

They are not an obvious choice for the visitor arriving the city, but the Porto cemeteries are part of the touristic itinerary – there is a new promotional video that unravels some of the secrets of these spaces, highlighting their heritage aspects.

The infopédia dictionary of the Portuguese Language [online], by Porto Editora, defines a cemetery as the “an enclosure intended for the burial of the deceased”, explaining that the word derives from the Greek koimetérion, <<dormitory>>. However, the invitation is to be wide awake while visiting these spaces, portrayed in the new touristic promotional video of the Municipality.

There are six Porto Cemeteries, and the video also features João Gordo’s tomb, in Sé. On a tour through the cemeteries of Agramonte, Bonfim, Lapa, Prado do Repouso, Saint James, and the catacombs of Igreja de S. Francisco, the promotional video highlights the heritage aspects of these spaces of heritage and cultural interest.

The history of Porto cemeteries dates to December the 1st, 1839, when the first public cemetery in Porto was blessed by the bishop D. Frei Manuel de Santa Inês: Prado do Repouso.

“We point out the tombs of the great Francisco de Almada e Mendonça (1757-1804), with a bust by the sculptor Soares dos Reis (1847-1889), the poet Eugénio de Andrade (1923-2005), designed by the architect Siza Vieira (1933), the physician and artist Abel Salazar (1889-1946), the painters António Cruz (1907-1983), and Aurélia de Souza (1866-1922), and also the pioneer of the Portuguese Cinema, Aurélio da Paz dos Reis (1862-1931)”, you can read in a publication of the municipal services of the Environment.

The same document emphasizes the existence of a place of diversified flora, which includes specimens of camellia (Japanese camellia), Judas-tree (Cercis Siliquastrum), cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipífera), magnolia (Magnolia obavata), and chinaberry tree (Melia azedarach).

The Agramonte cemetery was the city’s second public cemetery, having been inaugurated in 1855. “Of the numerous monuments of historical and artistic value, we highlight the tombs of Tribute to the Victims of the Fire at the Baquet Theatre (1888); the honorable Conde de Ferreira (1782-1866), with a reproduction of the sculpture by Soares dos Reis (1847-1889), whose original piece was in the meantime taken to the Museum of which the sculptor is patron; the director Manoel de Oliveira (1908-2015); the painter António Carneiro (1872-1930); the cellist Guillermina Suggia (1885-1950); the photographer Carl Émile Biel (1838-1915) and the architect Tomás Soller (1848-1883), among others”, note the municipal services.

The cemeteries of Prado do Repouso and Agramonte also have the particularity of being the only ones in Portugal to integrate the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe and to also be included in the European Cemeteries Route - created in 2010 by the Council of Europe.

The Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe brings together more than 150 spaces with “great potential for historical, cultural and architectural research”, you can read it on the official website.

The video “Cemitérios do Porto” is part of the set of 22 promotional videos that the Municipality of Porto is releasing with the aim of publicizing and valuing the city, as well as promoting it locally, nationally, and internationally, presenting a captivating Porto in its different dimensions: culture, architecture, heritage, gastronomy, handcrafts, urban art, sports, fairs and markets or hospitality.