Pérola do Bolhão
Porto is not a place. It is a feeling.
Agustina Bessa-Luís (1922-2019)
Founded on May 23, 1917, Pérola do Bolhão is one of the last strongholds of traditional commerce in Porto. It was born from the dream of António Reis and four partners who, in a building designed by architect Correia da Silva in 1914, transformed an old pond into a meeting point of aromas and flavours from around the world. The name “Bolhão” comes from that very pond, where once horses pulling carts would drink before the arrival of the tram.
The Art Nouveau façade, clad in tiles from the Carvalhinho Ceramic Factory in Gaia, is a hymn to the exoticism of spice routes. The panels depict indigenous figures, symbols of distant lands from which teas, coffees and spices arrived to fill the shelves and adorn the shop windows. It was the world contained within a grocery store, at a time when Porto was opening itself up to global trade.
António Reis, from Vila da Feira, brought to the city the spirit of the merchant who knows no bounds. Wearing a tailored suit, hat and flower in his lapel, he was much more than a trader – he was a pillar of his community. He extended credit to those in need, and the records of this gesture are still kept in books that tell stories of complicity and trust, with debts that resist time like memories.
The legacy passed to his son, who grew up among the aromas of the shop and the sounds of Porto’s streets. He followed in his father’s footsteps, adapting the offering without ever forgetting the roots. Today, Pérola is known for its teas, coffees, Port wines, nuts, biscuits, ginjinha, cured meats, preserves and the mythical Serra da Estrela PDO Cheese.
Despite the passage of years, the shop remains faithful to its origins. It is a landmark of the “Commerce with History” programme by Porto City Council, a living testimony to an era that stubbornly resists the rush of modern days.
Visiting Pérola do Bolhão is a journey through time, a chance to feel the heartbeat of the old city that never loses its soul. As the famous chef Jamie Oliver said, “it’s like finding a piece of living history, in a setting I thought no longer existed.”
Address and Contacts
Rua Formosa 279-281, 4000-252 Porto
+351 916 874 368
(Call to the national mobile phone network)