The pillory of the Sé do Porto Cathedral

Facing the Sé, the city’s cathedral, you should be able to see a twisted stone column, which is a “pelourinho” in Portuguese. In the past, former justice systems used pillories to publicly humiliate a convicted person, with the aim to punish him for his crimes as well as dissuade anyone having the same ideas. However, the neo-Pombaline column in front of you, a nod to the Marquis of Pombal, also features some iron hooks, once used to hang those sentenced to death. I agree, it’s not very joyful, but hey, we can’t rewrite the past.