Rua das Flores

This guide walks Rua das Flores in Porto from its start in 1521, when King Dom Manuel had the bishop's vegetable garden plowed over to cut a straight road down from the hilltop convent of Sao Bento toward the river. It follows how goldsmiths and silversmiths quickly claimed the new street, earning it the nickname Gold Street, and how by the late 1700s a visiting priest called it the richest stretch in the city. You'll hear about the filigree jewelry brides came here to buy and the bonfires that once filled the street every Saint John's night. Look up as you walk for the iron balconies stacked three storeys above the old shopfronts.