"Brand new" Lello Bookstore celebrates 112 years

Landmark building of the city of Porto, Lello Bookstore marks its 112 anniversary on 13 January, fully restored and presenting a wide range of events open to the public.

On that very day, the artistic installation "O Rosto do Porto" [The Face of Porto] will be opened to honour the city by embodying the faces of 400 people from Porto, private citizens along with celebrities, in clay busts by artist Ester Monteiro. 

Maintenance and restoration works took place during the year 2016 and 2017, a total investment of €2 million making it possible to open to the public hitherto reserved rooms, namely a bookbinding and handwriting atelier as well as showing the public deluxe editions and rare books.

The first phase of the rehabilitation works comprised the roof, façade and stained glass restauration. The second phase involved refurbishing the building interior, namely wood and stucco refinishing, electrical system recasting, lighting and the installation of new air-conditioning equipment.

All works have been performed with the bookshop open to the public.

Saturday, 13 January, doors open at 10 pm and there will be a public presentation of the improvements carried out. All day long, there will be performances, theatre, and recitation.

This will be a roleplay of the inauguration day, 112 years ago, in 1906, the opening day, featuring a ballerina dancing to the sound of a waltz composed by Alfredo Keil, children listening to stories by Beatrix Potter and a photographer with a bowler hat as to relive the famous momentum captured by Aurélio Paz dos Reis photography on the very day of the bookshop inauguration.

The bookstore building has been classified as a Public Interest Monument. Currently, Lello is one of the landmark monuments of the city of Porto, receiving thousands of visitors from all over the world. In 2017, about 1.235.472 people have visited Lello.