Aveiro was one of our favorite stops during our visit to Portugal. Though best known for its canals and the moliceiros that carry tourists up and down the canals, there’s a lot more to the city than the canals. The city is full of fine examples Art Nouveau architecture and Portugal’s famous azulejos and calçada are everywhere.
Just a few minutes walk from Aveiro’s main canal you’ll find the city’s beautiful old railway station. The station has been replaced by a newer and shinier station, but the old station is a gem. The station is covered with azulejos depicting scenes from the area, including salt harvesting and fishing, both of which were traditional industries of Aveiro.
During our visit the station was closed and fenced off, hopefully for restoration. The building is now over a century old and is in need of restoration. We were still able to view the beautiful tiled artwork on the front of the building. The tiles are predominantly the traditional blue azulejos, but highlights of yellow are scattered throughout, especially in the tilework framing the scenes. These two sections depict scenes of the Vouga River and the Aveiro Lagoon.
The azulejos are quite beautiful and serve the purpose of documenting the history and traditions of Aveiro. The citizens of the city are quite proud of their history and their old railway station does a great job of putting their history on display for visitors who may come to Aveiro through the railway station.
My hope is that on our next visit to Aveiro the renovation of the old railway station has been completed and we’ll be able to enjoy the station in more detail. For now, it was a nice stop on our tour of Portugal.
Mostly True 