page_title: São Bento Railway Station
section_title: Vestibule and historic tile images
hierarchical_section_title: São Bento Railway Station / Architecture / Vestibule and historic tile images
caption_attribution_description: English: Azuelo and mural, São Bento railway station, Porto, Portugal
context_page_description: São Bento Railway Station is a 20th-century railway terminal in the civil parish of Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória, in the municipality of Porto, district of Porto. The English translation of São Bento is Saint Benedict. The station is located in the Historic Centre of Porto, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and as a National Monument of Portugal.
  This building was constructed over a number of years, starting in 1904, based on plans by architect José Marques da Silva. The large panels of azulejo tile were designed and painted by Jorge Colaço; they were completed in 1916 and the station was then inaugurated. The murals represent moments in the country's history and the multicoloured panels depict rural scenes showing the people of various regions.
context_section_description: There are approximately 20,000 azulejo tiles, dating from 1905–1916, that were composed by Jorge Colaço, an important painter of azulejo. The actual tiles were made in the Sacavém factory. Colaço placed the first tiles on 13 August 1905. To the left of the entrance is a scene depicting the Battle of Arcos de Valdevez and Egas Moniz before Alfonso VII of Castile, while to the right, is D. João I in Oporto, with his fiancé, and the Conquest of Ceuta. On the border wall at the entrance are small panels depicting countryside scenes. The tile project required 11 years to complete.
  The upper parts of the frieze are lined with polychromatic (multicoloured) azulejos depicting a chronology of some forms of transport used by people in various areas of Portugal. The lower and upper frame of the frieze consists of a line of tile in blue, browns and yellow in a stylised geometric pattern.
  Under this, on the top of the north wall, is a large composition that covers the entire wall, depicting the Battle of Valdevez (1140), with two groups of antagonists and other knights in the background. This monochromatic composition, like the other main azulejo scenes, is executed in blue on white tile.
  Below it is another composition that represents meeting between the knight Egas Moniz and Alfonso VII of León in Toledo (12th century), offering his life, his wife and his sons during the siege of Guimarães. In the south, is a painting of the entrance to Porto of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster, on horseback, to celebrate their wedding (1387). Below that is the conquest of Ceuta (1415), with the principal figure of Infante D. Henrique, who subjugated the Moors.
  The wall into the station is divided into multiple compositions. To the left, a vision of the procession of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios in Lamego, an exhaustive description and detail showing the multitudes within an urban setting. Under this composition are two panels that represent her "promise" on her knees and, the other, her actions at the "miraculous" fountain. In the same detail is the pilgrimage of São Trocato to Guimarães over andor and carriage.
  One of the lower panels show a picture of a cattle fair and pilgrim camp. The central panels of the wall represent four work scenes: the vineyards, the harvest, the wine shipment down the Douro and work in the watermill. On the pilasters separating the doors with access to the street, below the polychromatic frieze, is a series of smaller compositions. Above these are medallions depicting romantic scenes and, below, allegories associated with the railway referencing time and signalling, in an Art Deco style.
caption: Blue azuelo tile mural and polychromatic tile mural
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