The pillory of the Sé do Porto Cathedral

The pillory of the Sé Cathedral of Porto

The Porto audio-guided tour presents you, facing the Sé Cathedral, with the pillory, a twisted stone column that recalls a painful aspect of the history of justice of the past.

A column laden with history

Facing the Sé of Porto stands a twisted stone column, the pelourinho. In the old regimes of justice, pillories served to publicly expose a condemned person, in order to confront them with their acts and to dissuade others from reproducing them. That of Porto, in Neo-Pombaline style, in reference to the first Marquis of Pombal, also included hooks linked to the execution of those condemned to death. This dark page of the history of the city is evoked with gravity: while these practices belong to a bygone past, the monument keeps the memory of it, at the foot of the cathedral.

What there is to see

The pillory, with its twisted stone column in Neo-Pombaline style, stands facing the Sé Cathedral, in an open setting offering fine views over the city. A witness of a judicial past that should be looked at with gravity, it recalls the history of the old regimes of justice. It is a stop of memory, on the very forecourt of the cathedral.

Practical information

The pillory stands on the forecourt of the Sé Cathedral, in the old town of Porto. It can be contemplated freely at all hours and on the level; the esplanade offers fine views over the city.

What were pillories used for?

To publicly expose the condemned in the old regimes of justice; that of Porto also included hooks linked to executions.

In what style is the pillory of Porto made?

In the Neo-Pombaline style, in reference to the first Marquis of Pombal.