page_title: Praça do Almada
section_title: Urban morphology
hierarchical_section_title: Praça do Almada / Urban morphology
context_page_description: Praça do Almada is the civic center of the city of Póvoa de Varzim in Portugal, and is located in Póvoa de Varzim City Center. It contains the sculpture that pays homage to Eça de Queiroz, a notable writer who was born there.
  Praça do Almada is about 14,000 square metres in area. It is considered by the city as free space and part historical area of Póvoa de Varzim district. In 1791, by the royal provision of Queen Mary I, the old Campo da Calçada became the civic center, initially named Praça Nova, or the New Square in English. It was also the place where the first public garden of Póvoa de Varzim was raised, and popular amongst the 19th century bourgeoisie. A legend speaks of a white owl that flies on the square between eleven thirty p.m. and midnight, which is associated with the incarnation of the soul of a person that deeply loved this square and did not want to ever leave it.
context_section_description: The square is landscaped in an egg-shape, cut in half by the National Highway 13, and is tipped by buildings with long-established national style. The building of the City Hall (1791), located in the north section, dominates the square and is of neoclassical design in the taste of the English settlement in Porto.  This English influence is visible in the arches of ashlar masonry on the ground floor, with tiling, to the Portuguese taste, added in 1908-10 by Rocha Peixoto, of the authorship of the Belgian painter Joseph Bialman. In front of the city hall, the square's ground has drawings with the blazon of the city and some siglas poveiras, considered of cultural interest and kept after the latest square rearrangement in 2007.
  To the west of the square is the Manueline pillory of Póvoa de Varzim, erected in 1514.  It is a national monument and represents the municipal emancipation of Póvoa de Varzim. In front and in another part of the square, there's the Statue of Eça de Queirós, erected in 1952.  It is of the authorship of Master Leopoldo de Almeida. The monument was offered by Povoan settlers in Rio de Janeiro. Next to the pillory, the square's historical and romantic gazebo follows the liking of the old Povoan bourgeoisie for its spare time.  With hexagonal plant, the gazebo is an illustration of cast iron architecture, with a very noticeable oriental influence, despite being stylized and geometric.
  Praça do Almada is a hub for different city districts. Through the streets of Sousa Campos and the Junqueira shopping streets, one can reach the waterfront. Through the streets of Paulo Barreto and Gomes de Amorim, the northern and densely urbanized area of the city is reached. Eça de Queiroz Square, Praça do Almada has direct access to Bairro da Matriz, the most traditional quarter, and through to Ferreiros Street, a road from the 16th century that until the 19th century was used to get to Vila do Conde and Porto, links the main square to the notorious fishing neighborhood known as Bairro Sul.
caption: The City Hall with the 1790-1791 arches by French engineer Reinaldo Oudinot.
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