Versailles Century - dedicated to the arts, events, ideas, and people of the period 1682-1789
  • Home
  • Arts
  • Events
  • Ideas
  • People
  • Travel
  • Contact Me
Versailles Century - dedicated to the arts, events, ideas, and people of the period 1682-1789
Home
Arts
Events
Ideas
People
Travel
Contact Me
  • Home
  • Arts
  • Events
  • Ideas
  • People
  • Travel
  • Contact Me
Books, Places, Travel

Moreira da Costa — A Bookshop in Porto

Wandering in Porto last spring, I came across this antiquarian bookshop, Livraria Moreira da Costa.  As the sign says, it was founded in 1902.

Livraria Moreira da Costa, an antiquarian bookshop in Porto.

Livraria Moreira da Costa, an antiquarian bookshop in Porto.

I can’t resist any kind of bookshop, but especially not a secondhand one, and certainly not an antiquarian one.  As I discovered on closer inspection of the shop window, Moreira da Costa is in fact the last-named kind of bookshop.

Antiquarian titles in the window of Moreira da Costa.

Antiquarian titles in the window of Moreira da Costa.

Continue reading

January 20, 2017by David Gemeinhardt
FacebookTwitterPinterestGoogle +Stumbleupon
Hotels, Travel

VC Hotel Review: Pestana Palacio do Freixo

Hotel: Pestana Palacio do Freixo, also known as the Pousada do Porto.

Address: Estrada Nacional 108, 4300, Campanha, Porto, Porto e Norte, Portugal (about 4km from the centre of Porto).

Website: http://www.pestana.com/en/hotel/freixo-palace/

Rating: Excellent.

The most famous facade of the Palacio do Freixo.

The most famous facade of the Palacio do Freixo.

I stayed at the Palacio for one night at the beginning of April, 2016.  Run by Pestana Hotels, the Palacio is classified as a national monument, and is also a member of Portugal’s national association of pousadas.

Reception: The check-in process was very smooth.  As soon as I entered the lobby, I was ushered to a comfortable chair in front of the reception desk in a chamber next to the Moorish lobby.  Although the formalities took only a few minutes, I was served a small glass of port.  The young man who had first greeted me at the door also showed me to my room.  This was a nice touch and probably necessary because the layout of the Palacio is complicated.

Flower arrangement in the Moorish lobby. Reception is to the left.

Flower arrangement in the Moorish lobby. Reception is to the left.

Continue reading

September 16, 2016by David Gemeinhardt
FacebookTwitterPinterestGoogle +Stumbleupon
Architecture, Arts, Decorative Arts

VC House Tour: Palacio do Freixo

Today I’m pleased to bring you Versailles Century’s first house tour, except the house is now a hotel.  I’ll explain.

The most famous facade of the Palacio do Freixo.

The most famous facade of the Palacio do Freixo.

The Palacio do Freixo was built around 1750 on the banks of the Douro river near Porto for one Dom Jeronimo de Tavora e Noronha.  Portuguese Wikipedia informs me that he was a wealthy gentleman with estates in the Douro valley.   He was also the heir of the Dean of the Porto Cathedral, and was instrumental in bringing Nicolau Nasoni (see the previous post), the Italian artist and architect who designed the Palacio, to Porto in 1725 to work on projects for the archdiocese.  Dom Geronimo left the Palacio to his younger brother, a knight in the Order of Malta, whose descendants sold it in the 19th century to a rich merchant, who built a soap factory next door.  It passed through several more hands and uses before finally being declared a national monument in 1910.  The Porto municipal administration acquired it 1986 and extensive restoration work was undertaken between 2000 and 2003.  Since 2009, the Pestana Group has operated it as a pousada, or heritage hotel.

I take these to be Dom Jeronimo de Tavora e Noronha's arms.

I take these to be Dom Jeronimo de Tavora e Noronha’s arms.

We’ll take a tour of the Palacio as a historic house in this post, and in the next one I’ll review it as a hotel.

Continue reading

September 14, 2016by David Gemeinhardt
FacebookTwitterPinterestGoogle +Stumbleupon
Architecture, Arts, Places, Travel

Versailles Century City: Porto

Porto, Portugal’s second city, was founded in Roman times, but came into its own during the Versailles Century.

Porto's historic heart with Porto's cathedral and archbishop's palace on the hilltop.

Porto’s historic heart with the cathedral and archbishop’s palace on the hilltop.

Brazilian gold flowing across the Atlantic after the discovery of the precious yellow metal in Minas Gerais in the 1690s, combined with the boom in the port wine trade after the signing of the Methuen Treaty with Great Britain in 1703, made Porto rich.  Much of the loot was spent on spectacular churches.  Modern visitors to the city will find the built heritage of the northern Portuguese Baroque all around them.  The star exhibits are the buildings designed by the transplant Nicolau Nasoni (1691-1773), an all-around talent who arrived from Italy to execute some paintings for the archbishop and stayed for the rest of his life, undertaking not only paintings, but interior design and architecture.

Continue reading

September 12, 2016by David Gemeinhardt
FacebookTwitterPinterestGoogle +Stumbleupon

MY INSTAGRAM FEED

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

Error: No posts found.

Make sure this account has posts available on instagram.com.

Click here to troubleshoot

CATEGORIES

  • Arts
    • Architecture
    • Decorative Arts
    • Fine Arts
    • Music
  • Events
    • Everyday Life
    • Historical Events
    • News
    • On This Day
  • Ideas
    • Book Reviews
    • Books
    • News
    • Reflections
    • Translations
  • People
    • Artists
    • Philosophers
    • Rulers
    • Soldiers
    • Statesmen
    • Writers
  • Travel
    • Hotels
    • Museums
    • Places
    • Restaurants
  • Uncategorised

POPULAR POSTS

Versailles Century, the Beginning — Part 3: Learning French

Versailles Century, the Beginning — Part 3: Learning French

Versailles: A Visit to the Private Apartments, Part 2

Versailles: A Visit to the Private Apartments, Part 2

The Golden Gate of Versailles: Today in History

The Golden Gate of Versailles: Today in History

Carnavalet Museum Closed for Renovations

Carnavalet Museum Closed for Renovations

TAGS

18th century A Childhood at Versailles A Novella of the 18th Century Austria Baroque books Carnavalet Museum Chateau de Versailles England Felipe V France Frederick II frederick the great French French Revolution furniture history La Maréchale d'Aubemer Lisbon Louis XIV Louis XV Louis XVI Madame de Pompadour Marie-Antoinette memoirs Mexico Mme Adélaïde Mme de Boigne MNAA Nancy Mitford New Spain novella on this day Paris Porto Portugal prussia rococo Rome Spain The Widow of Field Marshal d'Aubemer translation versailles Voltaire War of the Spanish Succession

RECENT POSTS

ON THIS DAY: 3 April

ON THIS DAY: 3 April

ON THIS DAY IN THE VERSAILLES CENTURY (1682-1789): 14 August

ON THIS DAY IN THE VERSAILLES CENTURY (1682-1789): 14 August

ON THIS DAY IN THE VERSAILLES CENTURY (1682-1789): 25 JULY

ON THIS DAY IN THE VERSAILLES CENTURY (1682-1789): 25 JULY

ON THIS DAY IN THE VERSAILLES CENTURY (1682-1789)

ON THIS DAY IN THE VERSAILLES CENTURY (1682-1789)

Recent Tweets

    Sorry, no Tweets were found.

SEARCH

Social

“France, indeed, had at that time an empire over mankind such as even the Roman Republic never attained: for, when Rome was politically dominant, she was in arts and letters the humble servant of Greece. France had over the surrounding countries at once the ascendancy which Rome had over Greece and the ascendancy which Greece had over Rome.” -- Lord Macaulay


My translation work

Go to top

My other blog and shop

© 2016 copyright VERSAILLES CENTURY // All rights reserved//

Designed, Hosted, & Maintained by SPIRITX WEB DESIGN