Is this the “most beautiful house in Porto”? This is at least what many think – and write – and, for the part that belongs to what is nowadays the Casa do Vinho Verde, this is how Palacete Silva Monteiro, a monument from the 16th century, is advertised. XIX on Rua da Restauração.
Now, on Saturdays, the Vinho Verde Region Viticulture Commission, which has had its headquarters here since 1944, proposes “a return to the 19th century” with guided tours and a fresh final: tastings of vinho verde, “with two references from producers in the region, who go through the various profiles of wines from the Denomination of Origin”, clarifies the commission in a statement.
“The most beautiful house in Porto”, refers in the note, “is stated on three floors that are made known during an hour-long guided tour” by a specialist, indicated by the team of the Restoration Course of the Catholic University do Porto – The Escola de Artes da Universidade Católica was a partner in the building’s restoration project, which started in 2019. The guide will “explain the architectural and decorative details that serve as a reference to the history of Porto in the 19th century”.
the visits (from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 pm) have a maximum limit of 15 participants and run from hour to hour, subject to prior registration at the site of Vinho Verde (5€).
The mansion, rebuilt by the will (and money) of Silva Monteiro, an eminent businessman and politician from Porto, includes, among many other highlights and details, as already written in PÚBLICO, one of the most beautiful skylights in the city and representative images of the various cities where lived: Rio de Janeiro, Porto and Lisbon. The building, it was underlined, tells “also much of the city’s history in the second half of the 19th century, a period in which Porto flourished, modernized itself, opened up to the outside world and sought to align itself with the great European capitals”.