Clérigos Church and Tower

The Clérigos Tower is the slim granite needle that rises over the centre of Porto, and climbing it is one of the most rewarding hours you can spend in the city. The church and tower were built for the Brotherhood of the Clérigos, a confraternity of clergy, to designs by Nicolau Nasoni, the Italian-born architect and painter who shaped much of Porto's Baroque townscape. Work on the church began in 1732 and was finished in 1750, and the tower followed between 1754 and 1763.

The church was one of the first Baroque churches in Portugal to use an elliptical floor plan, so take a few minutes inside to look at the oval nave and the polychrome marble altarpiece of the main chapel, made by Manuel dos Santos Porto. Nasoni joined the Brotherhood himself and was buried in the crypt, although the exact spot is not known. The ticket also covers a museum that tells the story of the Brotherhood and of Nasoni's work, with a collection of religious and decorative art.

The highlight for most visitors is the tower. At 75.6 metres it draws on the campaniles of Tuscany, and 240 steps lead up through six floors to the top, where the view takes in the cathedral, the river, the Dom Luís I Bridge and the port wine lodges across the water in Vila Nova de Gaia. The stairs are narrow and spiral, so the climb suits anyone reasonably fit but is not suitable for visitors with limited mobility or anyone uneasy in tight spaces.

The complex opens every day from 09:00 to 19:00, and tickets can be bought in the online shop, which is worth doing in summer and at weekends when queues form. Allow about an hour for the church, museum and climb. The Brotherhood also sells evening visits under the name Clérigos By Night, a good way to see the city lit up; check the shop for the current dates.

The tower stands at the top of Rua dos Clérigos, a short uphill walk from São Bento station and Avenida dos Aliados. Livraria Lello and the twin Carmo and Carmelitas churches are a few minutes away on foot, which makes it easy to pair with several other city-centre sights in a single morning.