Sāo Bento is a train station in Porto. But it isn’t just a train station. It is one of the most iconic landmarks in Porto. It was opened to the public in 1916 on the site of a former Benedictine monastery. Sāo Bento would in English be Saint Benedict. The station is in the historic centre of Porto, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also a National Monument of Portugal.
What makes the station so famous are the large panels of around 20,000 azulejo tiles covering the vestibule. The panels depict rural scenes showing people from different regions and also moments in Portugal’s history. The tiles were composed and painted by Jorge Colaço between 1905 and 1916, a period of eleven years!
