¿La librería más hermosa del mundo?
Lonely Planet consideró Livraria Lello & Irmão como la tercera biblioteca más hermosa del mundo. El local cuenta con una excelente fachada neogótica, donde se pueden ver dos figuras pintadas por José Bielman, que representan la Ciencia y el Arte. Esta fachada solo es superada por su impresionante interior, diseñado por Xavier Esteves.
El edificio se inauguró el 13 de enero de 1906, en un importante evento social tanto para las sociedades portuguesa como brasileña, al que asistieron personas famosas de diferentes esferas; entre ellas Guerra Junqueiro, un escritor portugués de renombre.
Al cruzar las puertas de esta librería notarás que hay una escalera maravillosa y las paredes de madera también son exquisitas. El techo de vidrieras añade un detalle sorprendente con el lema de Lello “vecus in labore”.
Se rumorea que la inspiración de J.K. Rowling para escribir Harry Potter comenzó en Porto, particularmente en esta biblioteca. La conocida escritora vivió en Portotrabajando como profesora de inglés a principios de los años 90 y solía tomar una taza de café en el segundo piso de la librería Lello. De hecho, existen grandes similitudes entre la escalera de la librería Lello y la descrita en Hogwarts.
También se cree que el traje de Hogwarts se inspiró en los trajes de los estudiantes universitarios en Portugal, compuesto por un traje negro y un abrigo negro; es muy probable que estos estudiantes se encuentren por esta zona, ya que la sede de la Universidad Porto se encuentra en la Praça Gomes Teixeira (más adelante, donde se encuentra una fuente del León, de ahí el apodo de ’Praça dos Leões“ – Plaza de los Leones, como la llaman los lugareños).
La política en cuanto a la fotografía dentro de la biblioteca es muy estricta, y por una razón: este es un espacio privado que está lleno de gente todo el tiempo, pero una minoría termina comprando un libro. Sin embargo, aún puedes entrar gratis y disfrutar de la magnificencia del edificio y hay excelentes postales que puedes comprar y llevar a casa para completar tu álbum de fotos. De todos modos, te recomiendo encarecidamente comprar un libro aquí, ya que se convierte en una experiencia única, conectando todos los sentidos.
Por la misma zona, encontrará la Torre de los Clérigos y Iglesias del Carmo y Carmelitas. Estos valen totalmente la pena.
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We’ve just signed up for an entry this summer (late July, 2022), and they’re now asking for 18 Euro per person…wow, that some price appreciation. But we’re still excited nonetheless.
Yes, but the entry fee is deducted from the price of any books you buy….
Just went last Monday, November 18th 2019, the price is already 5 euros, not surprise if 2020 jump to 6 or 7, Any way is much better to visit now than in the summer, its very hot, extremely crowded big queue, on the hot sun. There are book on Portugese, English, French and Spanish. I bought the book for Portugese El Camino de Santiago for 12 euros, -5 the entrance , just paid 7 euro. Yes its very beautiful inside, also there is the famous hat, fro m Harry Potter.
Yesterday, the only thing I photographed there was the queue of people, waiting to get in for a peep. It must have been 100 yards long. It seems that the place is a ‘victim’ of ever increasing tourism in Porto. I was there as a tourist too, so I can hardly complain. The shop must be doing well from ticket sales. Book browsers and buyers must find it rather irritating though.
The economy of Porto must be enjoying tremendous growth. Despite the droves of people trailing around, it was still a great holiday as the city is unique in many ways. You really do need a good pair of legs though, the steep streets are killers on the calves!
People are turning to the Camino Portuguese as a less crowded alternative to the Camino Francis for the walk to Santiago Spain. Many start in Porto because Lisbon is very difficult to negotiate to get out of the city. We’re doing the walk in September 2019.
I spent about 90 minutes browsing the shelves today. As a bookstore, per se, it is simply not comparable to such places as Powells in downtown Portland, Oregon, USA, Foyles on Charing Cross Road, London, England or Basil Blackwells in Oxford, England in terms of volume and subject matter. If one is looking for the visual beauty of the surroundings in which reading material is sold and subject matter is a matter of far lesser consideration this bookstore in Porto is surely a world class must-see destination. The entry price is now €4 which is deducted from the cost of one’s purchases. Inside photography is allowed without restriction. From my observations I estimate that 10% or less of the foot traffic made purchases and about 100% of the traffic took photographs!
This is what Heavens would look like to me. An antique bookstore– gorgeous!
It is by far the most beautiful bookstore I have ever seen and definitely worth 3 euros which is deducted from the price iof a purchase
A definite highlight of my visit to Portugal – absolutely wonderful !!
The store is beautiful, unfortunately they are currently renovating thr facade so couldn’t see that but the inside is definitely worth the 3 € entry fee, this is deducted from any purchase you make in the store which seems fair to me
This bookstore was so beautiful I decided to write it a love letter. http://thebucketyears.com/unlisted-places/dear-lello-bookstore/
Sorry, that was meant to say max 22 months in Porto, not 14.
I don’t know why it’s stated here that JK Rowling lived in Porto for 10 years. She was in Porto a maximum of 14 months, according to her website. Her mother died on December 30, 1990, and nine months later she moved to Portugal (October 1991), then to Edinburgh by Christmas 1993.
Right.
She worked at a language school with several teachers I know here in Porto. Also, it’s difficult to argue that she routinely drank coffee upstairs at the bookstore considering that she’s claimed on Twitter that she never stepped foot in the library–or had even heard of it. (To historicize, although it’s hard to believe now that she never heard of what is presently a locus of ridiculous overtourism, in the early 1990s the bookstore was not incredibly well known and was actually a pretty sleepy place with a rather modestly sized clientele. I lived in the tiny Clérigos neighbourhood that the bookstore calls home in the early 2000s and I first stepped foot in it after five years of living there.) Also, this story not only traffics in urban myths, but also gets them conflated. The real story–though it is still just a story–is that Rowling frequented the famous upscale Majestic Café, not this bookstore, and that’s where she did some of her early writing for Harry Potter. This story, though, is also dubious. Unlike Livraria Lello, Majestic was very famous in the 90s and was already a tourist hotspot. And as it remains today, it is ridiculously expensive. (Think coffees and tarts three times as expensive as in a normal place.) It’s hard to believe that a young writer living on a teacher’s wage, a writer who for a time literally lived on government handouts back in the UK, would be frequenting such a place.
I can’t wait to visit,it’s mind blowing,just a suggestion,to raise money for a local charity why not charge a fee for photographers to take photos in the hour prior to or after opening maybe once a month
I should have put,before opening or after closing .
Definitely nothing to justify charging THREE euros. I will no longer go there, ever. Libraries are free all over the world, nothing can excuse this.
It’s not a library, it’s a privately-owned bookstore.
It is now 3 euro to enter. You buy a ticket across from the bookstore. However if you buy a book the entry price
is deducted. Well worth a visit but it is seriously crowded so getting good pics is difficult.
one would think such a nice article would include an address for the destination.
Hi Bob! If you read in deskto view you will have full adress and contacto with Google Maps view. Still working on the mobile version, sorry about that. Cheers!
its 5 Euro to enter and you can take pictures