Inside the Clergy Church - Dentro a Igreja dos Clérigos

I've already posted about the famous tower in Porto, torre dos clerigos . It is the bell tower to the beautiful Clergy (or Clerics) Church.

Tower Photo by Christopher Hooper

The inside of the church is gorgeous!

We happened to come in from the tower side at the balcony level. A wedding had just ended and we heard a violin playing with the organ. I got a tiny 2 second video clip of their music. 

Isn't it incredible? There are pipes on each side of the nave help for my Baptist friends.
The organ console is under the pipes you see here.

 Here is a view of the altar area from the balcony. It's difficult to grasp the scale of the room from these pictures.

Those little statues aren't little at all. Here are some closer shots of them.

St. Phillip

Look at what Phillip had to say about Jesus.

There are two great stories about Philip in Acts 8.

Acts 8

Philip wanted everyone to know about Jesus.

3Acts 8:35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 

Atos 8:35 Então Filipe, começando com aquela passagem da Escritura, anunciou-lhe as boas-novas de Jesus.

This is Saint Peter. He is one of the most famous of Jesus' disciples.

Here's part of what he said about Jesus. 

Matthew 16:15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 

Mateus 16:15 “E vocês?”, perguntou ele. “Quem vocês dizem que eu sou?” 

16 Simão Pedro respondeu: “Tu és o Cristo, o Filho do Deus vivo”.

 He also wrote two of the books in the New Testament, 1 Peter and 2 Peter.
 1 Peter  1 Pedro 2 Peter 2 Pedro
1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 
1 Pedro 1:3 Bendito seja o Deus e Pai de nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo! Conforme a sua grande misericórdia, ele nos regenerou para uma esperança viva, por meio da ressurreição de Jesus Cristo dentre os mortos,

Here are some more pictures from the interior of this incredible church.

Torre dos Clerigos - The Clerics Tower

You see it from all around the city - at least the old city.

It stands 76 meters tall (about 250 feet) and was the tallest building in Portugal 

for hundreds of years. 

Maybe they had Psalm 61 in mind when they designed this beautiful strong tower.

Psalm 61:1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. 

2 From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 

3 For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.

Salmos 61:1 Ouve o meu clamor, ó Deus, atenta para a 

minha oração. 

2 Desde os confins da terra eu clamo a ti, com o coração abatido

; põe-me para a rocha que é mais alta do que eu. 

3 Pois tu tens sido o meu refúgio, 

uma torre forte contra o inimigo. 

It is on the West end of the Clerics' Church - A Igreja dos Clerigos. 

Both the tower and the church are in classic Baroque style. 

Construction of the tower was from 1754-1763. It was the bell tower 

for the church which was built about 20 years before it.

After winding your way up 240 steps you'll reach an area where you can walk around 

and get a 360 degree view of the city.

Chris and I at the top!

The view of Porto from the top of the tower is incredible!

Rio Douro

Our friends waited for us at one of the cafes below.

(Just under the tree to the right of the cut out triangle.)

Around the top of the tower they have markers to tell you what buildings you are seeing in the distance and then they had this one that compares the height of the Clerics Tower to other famous tall buildings. The Clerics Tower is the first little building on the marker.

I'll share pictures of the inside of the church in another post

(It is gorgeous inside).

Beautiful Architecture

The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Psalm 95:5

Seu é o mar, pois ele o fez, e as suas mãos formaram a serra terra seca. Salmos 95:5

These are just two of many pictures that I took while over in Portugal. These have to be two of my favorite due to the architecture. Seeing all the beautiful work that was created by someone left me awestruck. Seeing this work reminded me that God created everything on earth and even gave the people who designed and built these structures the talents to do so. The details on every building in the city as well as the details of the bridge are so amazing and beautifully done. God took the time to place every detail on earth and that is something I try and praise him for every day.

More Photographers from Tennessee

We started this blog last year with a few photographers who had visited Porto, Portugal.

This year another group of photographers visited Porto. Here's a picture of Lyndel, Chris, Zack, Zach, Lisa, Cinde, Shari, and our friends who live in Porto, Andy, Michelle and Ethan.

This picture was taken outside the magnificent Sé do Porto - Porto Cathedral.

We'll be posting pictures of Porto over the next few weeks. You'll want to visit Porto after you see what a beautiful city it is. You will also love the Portuguese people when you visit. They are kind and welcoming. 

#VisitPortugal

You can see the Porto Cathedral in this view from the clérigos tower. It's the big building by the river. 

Frutas Frescas

When you visit Porto you have the opportunity to fill yourself up on delicious fresh fruit. Practically every street has a small fruit shop. There are also large market places where you can get fruits and vegetables and handmade items - like beautiful table clothes.

Here are some pics to get your mouth watering! (Not just fruit pics)

Roses - Rosas do Jardim do Palácio de Cristal

Juliet:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

William Shakespeare 

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

muito linda, não é?

"O que há em um nome? Isso que nós chamamos uma rosa
Por qualquer outro nome cheiraria como o doce. "

The Crystal Palace Gardens in Porto have a beautiful rose garden within the bigger garden area. 

Genesis 1:12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

Gênesis 1:12 A terra, pois, produziu relva, ervas que davam semente segundo as suas espécies, e árvores que davam fruto que tinha em si a sua semente, segundo as suas espécies. E viu Deus que isso era bom.

The Blue Tiles of Portugal

Portugal is famous for its blue tiles. Almost every building - at least it seems this way to me - has a tile facade. The tiles are part of what makes Porto such a beautiful city.

Here's a picture collage I made from a trip to Porto a few years ago.

The train depot has some amazing tile scenes that tell the history of Portugal.

You can read about the blue tiles - called Azulejo - here Azulejo on Wikipedia

Capela do Rei Carlos Alberto - Jardim do Palácio de Cristal

The Chapel of King Carlos Alberto in the Crystal Palace Gardens

in Porto, Portugal

Filipenses 2: 8-11 e, vivendo como homem, humilhou-se a si mesmo, obedecendo até à morte, e morte na cruz. Por isso, Deus elevou Jesus acima de tudo e lhe deu o Nome que está acima de todo o nome; para que ao nome de Jesus se dobrem todos os joelhos: no Céu, na Terra e debaixo da terra; e para que todos proclamem, para glória de Deus Pai: Jesus Cristo é Senhor!

Philippians 2:8-11 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Bells of Porto

 Throughout the centuries bells have been placed in churches and cathedrals and church towers. They are used to call people to prayer, to special events (weddings and funerals etc.) and to worship services. Porto has a lot of big bells in beautiful churches and towers.

I think that if the psalmist had bells available he would have added them to this list of instruments used to praise the Lord.

Psalm 150

1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. 

2

 Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. 

3 Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. 

4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. 

5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. 

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.Praise the LORD!

Salmos 150

1 Aleluia! Louvem ao Senhor! Louvai a Deus no seu santuário; 

louvem-no pelo 

firmamento, que é a sua fortaleza!! 

2 Louvem-no pelas suas obras poderosos; 

louvem-no por todas as suas grandezas!

3 Louvem-no com o toque da trombeta; 

louvem-no com harpas e liras!

4 Louvem-no com tambores e danças;

 louvem-no com instrumentos de corda e flautas! 

5 Louvem-no com címbalos sonoros; 

louvm-no com címbalos vibrantes! 

6 Que todos os seres vivos louvem o Senhor!

Aleluia!

Handbells were first used as a way for those who rang bells in church towers to practice. I suppose if you were going to play for a wedding people would come to church for the wedding while ringers were just practicing.

You can hear my handbell choir and read about our trip to Porto on my Rezounding Praize blog.

Rezounding Praize

These - of course - aren't all of the bells in Porto. Just ones I happened to get pictures of.