Goodbye Aveiro

During our last weekend in Aveiro we visited the Sé Cathedral, the Museum of Aveiro (which is housed in a 15th Century convent) + the Art Nouveau museum (including the suggested walk in order to view the 28 magnificent buildings in this style) - so lots of culture and plenty of exercise! We did, of course, feel justified to start off with our Saturday morning pastry selection :)
Staying in the old town of Aveiro has made it possible to cultivate & enjoy a relationship, albeit a short one, with the friendly staff and owners of the local stores......the fruit & vegetable shop, the butcher's shop and the bakery/café are all within a 5 minute walk of "our house" - each place has its own ambience + the best of product.
So, fuelled by the delights from the bakery, we entered the Art Nouveau Museum, which is housed in a building of this architectural style - pleased once again with free entrance for seniors. Housed in the Casa Major Pessoa, this building has extraordinary art nouveau details, evident in the stone façade and the interior decoration of hand painted azulejos + a circular iron staircase which leads to the second floor. Here we learned details of the origins of Art Nouveau, its lifestyle and how it arrived in Aveiro.
Similar to other museums in this town, the contents are sparse, but interesting to look at...... all of the museums are located in attractive buildings. On the ground floor of this one there's also a charming & whimsical café (with retro-bean bag chairs), serving pastries and drinks - including a wide variety of teas.
The walking trail suggested by the museum is a wonderful idea - it gave us the opportunity to see over 20 magnificent buildings in the Art Nouveau style - some we'd noticed and commented on already....others were "new" to us and some - we never did find!
Just one of the many buildings worth mentioning, is one that that we'd passed every day along the main waterfront - the Former Cooperative Agricola. This beautiful building has a striking pink façade with a combination of decorative stonework & hand-painted tiles, representing lilies, painted by a celebrated local artist - Licinio Pinto in 1913.
Tired after walking (and searching) for these many splendid places we decided to wait until the next day to see the Sé Cathedral and the of Museu de Aveiro - a good decision. The museum itself is huge and houses such an extensive collection that even on a day of no other cultural sights it is an overload for the eyes and mind!
Aveiro’s main cathedral, also known as the Church of St Dominic, is a National monument that was built in the early 15th Century. Set at the site of the old Dominican convent, it was the the first religious community to be established in the city. Although its original Gothic façade remains, the inside was remodelled in the 17th & 18th centuries. The simple limestone front is impressive, complete with a large bell tower. This startling white limestone continues inside, together with ornate carvings and statues. On one side of the church is a large and surprising addition made of cinder-block. Although surely needed to repair and "prop-up" the structure of this building, it did, in our opinion, spoil the simplistic beauty of the inside of the church.
Located near the cathedral is The Museu de Aveiro, which is housed in a 15th century convent, now surrounded and encased in a newer building. This huge area successfully intertwines with the old Baroque building to give areas for visitors to view the old structure and its treasures + more modern areas for a permanent exhibition.
Anyone visiting this museum should allow plenty of time and have a clear mind - there is plenty to see - perhaps too much for one visit - it could easily be split between the two very complimenting, but different parts. Entrance is €4 - but once again free for us seniors - and for children under 12!
In 1882 the Dominican Order was converted into the College of Saint Joanna (daughter of the first King of Portugal) until it was dissolved in 1910, due to the implementation of The Republic. In 1911 it was classified as a National Monument.
On the ground floor we entered what is immediately obvious as a place of worship - the tomb of Princess Saint Joanna, who died in 1490. Her request to be buried there, in an unadorned grave, was initially respected, but after her beatification in 1693 the Dominicans of Aveiro petitioned for a new tomb. By decree of King D. Pedro II and the work of the royal architect, this magnificent resting place was created - taking 11 years to complete. Both the walls and the tomb are decorated with minuscule pieces of marble.
The convent chapel was next - with a carved ceiling and gold leaf - it outlines the vaulted arch of the main alter......a place of golden splendour! The tiles in the chapel date back to the early 18th century, but tombstones there are from the early 1500s.
Also of interest in this chapel are the dual-doors which originally opened into the chapter rooms of the convent - there is also a wheel through which items could be passed.
We continued on through to the cloisters - a place where the nuns read, prayed and meditated. With a fountain, surrounded by covered walkways containing benches, this area retains its feeling of peace and tranquility. The cloisters provided access to other rooms - including the refectory, washrooms, lower choir stalls & chapels....of which there were many. With too much here to detail, the refectory alone is a beautiful room - it's walls covered with tiles. Many of the surrounding chapels are partially intact - the chapel of Saint John the Evangelist still retains the original altar-piece and its tile-work, which covers the walls and ceiling.....amazing to us that we could walk so freely through all of this history, without any guides and very few limitations.
The upper floor of the cloisters leads to more places of devotion. The upper choir stalls are beautiful, with hand painted walls and massive reading stands that run the whole length of the chapel. The Church of Jesus is decorated with golden woodwork and, of course, hand painted (azulejos) tiles. The high Choir is reputed to be the place where Princess Saint Joanna took her private vows.
The modern rooms which display the permanent exhibits also contain a further two remains of the former convent - the Crafts Room and another chapel.
Again, with very few limitations, visitors are allowed to wander freely through 9 or 10 large rooms - all filled with a wide range of jewels, sculptures, information about Aveiro, the convent and Princess Saint Joanna. In addition to all of this, the amount of paintings on view are daunting in number - some dating back from as early as 1472.
We left this museum with a look at a nautical exhibit, tucked away behind the reception area....we did it quickly.....our heads already too full to appreciate it properly.
When leaving this museum we decided that due to having just one more day in Aveiro, we should have seen it sooner and "split up" the two areas/floors into separate visits. At the time we were admiring the huge wooden cabinet - 20ft wide X 15 ft high - that dominates the entrance.....it's filled with pottery and artifacts from the convent.....how did we miss it on the way in?!
The last day in Aveiro (after packing & cleaning up), we walked through our favourite streets and squares & along the canal. We enjoyed our time here and loved the almost perfect climate of warm sunny days with cool mornings and evenings.
A few things that we'll miss:- The Casa da Porta Azul (the house with the blue door) was great - both in location and its host, Felipe - who was always accommodating & thoughtful. Three times, in 17 nights, he provided us with clean bed linen & towels - delivered to our door, without being asked.....a first for us - and I believe, unusual.
We'll also miss the garbage collectors - who like in other areas in Portugal - pick up any garbage placed outside the door - every night except Saturday. With the streets in Aveiro being so narrow they use wheelbarrows.....they are, surely, a national treasure!
We'll miss our favourite shop-keepers, who patiently listened to our attempts to speak Portuguese and provided us with food of excellent quality along with personal service.
(Almost) at the top of the list of things we'll miss are the pastries - we've sampled many.....and we did find out what happens to all the egg whites after the yolks are used for the Ovos Moles.....meringues! They come In all shapes and sizes - with delicious fillings - our recommendation is the large one, filled with soft yellow cream, purchased at the Confeitaria Peixinho - but be prepared for line-ups and sticky fingers!