By day the historic centre of Porto displayed its wonderful Baroque, Gothic, Romanesque and Neo-classical architecture and justified its UNESCO World Heritage Site title. By night, however, the city took on a different appearance, as buildings, squares and statues were lit up, giving everything a golden glow. The tourists had made their way back to their cruise ships and their hotels and we could walk around the quiet streets marvelling at the regal splendour of the area around Campo dos Mártires da Pátria (for the Palácio da Justiça and the Clérigos Tower); Largo Professor Abel Salazar (for the Museu do Centro Hospitalar do Porto); Avenida dos Aliados and the two squares at either end, Praça da Liberdade and Praça do General Humberto Delgado (for very grand nineteenth-century commercial buildings, the nearby São Bento station and two charming statues, A Juventude (the naked woman, 1929) and A Abundância (the cherubs, 1931), both by the sculptor Henrique Moreira); the Jardim do Infante Dom Henrique (for the statue of Prince Henry the Navigator); the Ribeira quarter (for the Dom Luís I Bridge and the Serra do Pilar Monastery and Church on the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the river); and Vila Nova de Gaia (for views of Porto, including the Palácio da Bolsa, São Bento da Vitória Church, the Clérigos Tower, the Episcopal Palace and the Cais da Ribeira). Porto by day is for the tourists, but Porto by night is for the romantics.
