250 Years of the Clérigos Church Tower

The Torre dos Clérigos in Porto alongside the Dom Luís I Bridge, with Portugal's coat of arms and the inscription "Portugal" to the right. Above: the legend "250 Anos Torre dos Clérigos – 2013", the designer's name "Hugo Maciel" and the INCM mintmark.

The Torre dos Clérigos in Porto is one of the best-known buildings on the Iberian Peninsula and is considered one of the most striking examples of Portuguese Baroque architecture. The tower was built to designs by architect Nicolau Nasoni and completed in 1763, making it one of the oldest freestanding bell towers in Portugal. At nearly 76 metres tall, it dominated the skyline of Porto's old town for centuries and served as a landmark for sailors on the Douro. Nicolau Nasoni, born in Tuscany, decisively shaped the architecture of northern Portugal in the 18th century; the Clérigos Church, to which the tower belongs, is one of his major works and is today a protected heritage site.

Porto and the Torre dos Clérigos are inseparably linked - the tower has become an emblem of the city, much like the nearby Ponte Dom Luís I, the late-19th-century iron and pedestrian bridge connecting both banks of the Douro. Both structures embody a city history shaped by trade routes, waves of emigration and architectural high points. Porto's historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, and the Clérigos Tower forms one of its spatial focal points. Portugal honoured the tower's 250th anniversary in 2013 with the issue of this commemorative coin.