Livraria Lello

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Exterior of the bookstore

The Livraria Lello (German: Buchhandlung Lello ) is a bookshop in the Portuguese city ​​of Porto . It is counted among the most beautiful bookstores in Europe and the world.

In the bookstore

history

In 1869 the bookshop Livraria Chardron was opened in the current building at 144 Rua das Carmelitas . In 1894, José Pinto de Sousa Lello bought the building. He imported books and already had a bookshop in Porto with his brother-in-law David Lourenço Pereira. After the death of his brother-in-law, José Pinto de Sousa Lello and his brother António Lello founded the book trade and publishing house Lello & Irmão, Lda. On January 13, 1906, the bookstore opened with great attention from the culturally interested circles of Porto.

The company is now part of the newly founded Prólogo Livreiros, SA , a bookstore that also includes a member of the Lello family. In 1995 the bookstore was extensively renovated. It has been a listed building since 2013.

In 2008 the British newspaper The Guardian selected the most beautiful bookstores in the world and awarded the Lello bookstore third place. For Lonely Planet too , Lello is the most beautiful bookstore in Europe and the third most beautiful in the world.

The Lello bookstore is rumored to have had an influence on the Harry Potter novel world. The author Joanne K. Rowling lived in Porto for some time in the early 1990s, taught English and is said to have also stayed in the Lello bookstore.

Since 2015, visitors have been charged an entrance fee of a few euros, which can be offset against a purchase. In 2019 the admission price is 5 euros. Visitors complain of difficulties and misunderstandings in billing, as well as book prices that are very high in comparison.

Design and offer

The Art Nouveau building with its neo-Gothic facade was planned and built by engineer Xavier Esteves . Inside, the sculptor Romão Júnior created busts of important writers, including Antero de Quental , Eça de Queiroz , Camilo Castelo Branco , Teófilo Braga , Tomás Ribeiro and Guerra Junqueiro . A special eye-catcher is the curved wooden staircase that leads to the open-plan upper floors. A small bar has been set up there, where port wine is preferably served.

The bookstore offers a wide range of classic Portuguese literature , a well-stocked political segment and a wide selection of poetry . The bookstore is also prepared for the large number of tourists with its own segment of postcards, travel guides and special products.

photos

Web links

Commons : Livraria Lello  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. The most beautiful bookshops in Europe - Where books growl . Süddeutsche Zeitung . August 19, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  2. a b Top shelves - The world's 10 best bookshops . In: The Guardian , January 11, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2014. 
  3. ^ Livraria Lello e Irmão. In: Pesquisa Geral - Pesquisa do Patrimonio. Direção Geral do Património Cultural , accessed March 23, 2018 (Portuguese).
  4. ^ The world's greatest bookshops . June 16, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2014. (Information from "Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2011")
  5. ^ Sarah Standing: Weekend breaks in Porto: How the ancient city became a fashionable contender . In: Daily Mail , September 21, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2014. 
  6. Harry Potter's magician . In: BBC News , February 18, 2003. Retrieved October 17, 2014. 
  7. ^ Margit Kohl: Portugal: Cathedrals for literature . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , November 11, 2015. Accessed on October 28, 2016.  (In 2015 it was 3 euros, in 2017 allegedly 4 euros)
  8. Nowhere to go! . In: Der Spiegel, No. 33, page 14 , August 11, 2018.  ("Someone suggested whether you could not take admission, five euros.")
  9. ^ Lydia Hohenberger, Jürgen Strohmeier: Portugal. 2nd edition, DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2009, page 241 ( ISBN 978-3-7701-7658-8 )
  10. ^ Hans-Peter Burmeister: Portugal - DuMont art travel guide. 3rd edition, DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2008, page 252 ( ISBN 978-3-7701-4416-7 )
  11. Europe's bookshops: travel destinations for bibliophiles . In: Die Zeit , August 21, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2014. 

Coordinates: 41 ° 8 ′ 48.5 "  N , 8 ° 36 ′ 53.5"  W.