Tower entrance ticket
A dated ticket for the climb, with the church front and the museum collections among its highlights. It states 225 steps, no lift and no large bags. Free cancellation up to 2 days before.
See dates ↗Why climb it
The tower every Porto street points back to
Baroque, built in granite
Nicolau Nasoni, the Tuscan-born architect who settled in Porto in the 1720s and stayed until his death in 1773, designed the Clérigos complex for the lay brotherhood that gave it its name. The church went up between 1732 and 1750. The tower followed between 1754 and 1763 and rises about 75 metres in six stepped floors, a shape English Wikipedia compares to a Tuscan campanile.
The climb is the visit
A narrow spiral of stone steps carries you up through the six floors to two viewing balconies. Counts of the steps differ by source: 225 is the figure on the ticket and in the Portuguese Wikipedia, and 240 appears elsewhere. There is no lift to the top, and bags and backpacks stay below.
Church and museum under the same roof
The brotherhood's house, the Casa da Irmandade, joins church and tower and now holds a museum. The highlights of the tower ticket include its collections: part of the brotherhood's own holdings and the Christus Collection, with furniture, paintings and vestments of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Pick your ticket
Three tickets put you at the tower. A dated tower ticket for the daytime climb, an evening ticket for the tower alone in a small group, or a three-hour guided walk through the old town that includes a guided visit to the church. The cards below say what each one covers.
From the street up
Six stops, from the street to the balcony
Read the complex from the ground up and it falls into six parts. They are described here from the street to the balcony, using the Portuguese and English Wikipedia articles, the tower's own pages and the Visit Porto tourism pages.
What each ticket admits is set on the booking page. The tower ticket covers the climb, the church front and the museum collections among its highlights, and the evening ticket is for the tower only.
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Front
Shells and garlands on the church front
The church front is heavy with Baroque motifs, garlands and shells among them, under an indented broken pediment based on an early seventeenth-century Roman scheme. The monumental divided stairway at its foot was finished in 1763, the same year as the tower.
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Church
An oval nave under a dome
Inside, the nave is elliptical, one of the first Baroque church plans of its kind in Portugal, and the altarpiece of the main chapel is polychromed marble by Manuel dos Santos Porto. Nasoni asked to be buried in the crypt, in an unmarked tomb whose exact place is not known.
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Museum
The brotherhood's house between church and tower
The Casa da Irmandade links church and tower and now operates as a museum, with rooms such as the Salão Nobre and the former infirmary. Part of the brotherhood's collection and the Christus Collection are shown there.
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Climb
Six floors up a narrow spiral
The tower has six floors of stepped size, and its interior staircase is the climb: 225 steps by the count on the ticket and in the Portuguese Wikipedia, 240 in other sources. A Porto newspaper described the stair as narrow and spiral. There is no lift.
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Bells
A carillon among the country's largest
The tower holds a carillon, acquired in 1995 and one of the largest in Portugal, according to the Portuguese Wikipedia. For centuries before that the tower itself served as a landmark for boats heading up the Douro, and as a daily noon signal.
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Balcony
Two lookouts, 360 degrees
The staircase ends at viewing balconies, two of them at different levels, with a panorama of 360 degrees: the Baixa and the historic centre below, the Douro beyond and, on a clear day, the sea in the distance.
The tower in four facts
The tower in four facts
Four facts about the granite you are climbing, drawn from Wikipedia and the tower's own website.
- Finished in 1763
- The church was begun in 1732 and finished in 1750. The bell tower and the divided stairway in front of the church were completed in 1763.
- Nasoni's greatest work
- Wikipedia's article on Nicolau Nasoni says scholars consider the Clérigos Church his greatest work. He is buried in its crypt.
- A National Monument
- The church and tower have been classified a Monumento Nacional since 1910, according to the Portuguese Wikipedia.
- In a World Heritage centre
- Since 1996 the Historic Centre of Porto, where the tower stands, has carried UNESCO World Heritage status.
Clérigos in pictures
Clérigos in pictures
The church front, the nave, the bells, the view from the top and the tower from the roofs and the river: the parts of the Clérigos complex as they look.
Compare the tickets
Three ways to meet the Clérigos tower
| Option | What it is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Tower entrance ticket | A dated ticket for the climb, with the church front and the museum collections among its highlights. It states 225 steps, no lift and no large bags. Free cancellation up to 2 days before. | Visitors who want the view and the museum on their own timetable. |
| The tower at night | A ticket for the tower only, in the evening hours, unguided, in a small group. Free cancellation up to 2 days before. Not suitable for people with claustrophobia, heart problems or vertigo; food and drink are not allowed. | Visitors who have already seen the church by day, or who want the lit city. |
| Guided Porto walk with entry tickets | A three-hour guided walk from Terreiro da Sé with entry tickets included: Porto Cathedral and its complex, the Clérigos Church, São Bento da Vitória Monastery and a tasting. The Clérigos stop is a guided visit to the church; the tower climb is not among the listed stops. | Visitors who want the old town explained, not just the tower. |
Three ways up
Book the Clérigos climb
The first card is the daytime tower ticket that the rest of this guide describes. The two beside it are different products with their own conditions, placed here for comparison. More Porto bookings follow under the cards.
The tower at night
A ticket for the tower only, in the evening hours, unguided, in a small group. Free cancellation up to 2 days before. Not suitable for people with claustrophobia, heart problems or vertigo; food and drink are not allowed.
See dates ↗Guided Porto walk with entry tickets
A three-hour guided walk from Terreiro da Sé with entry tickets included: Porto Cathedral and its complex, the Clérigos Church, São Bento da Vitória Monastery and a tasting. The Clérigos stop is a guided visit to the church; the tower climb is not among the listed stops.
See dates ↗More to book in Porto
Plan the visit
Plan the visit
Finding the tower
The tower stands on Rua de São Filipe de Nery in Porto's historic centre, in the Baixa, the central district around the Avenida dos Aliados. Two metro stations, São Bento and Aliados, sit in the same district.
Tickets and entry
Each tower ticket is for one date and a start time, which appear when you check availability. The evening ticket asks you to change your ticket at the ticket office as soon as you arrive at the monument.
How long to allow
The tower ticket gives its duration as about 30 minutes. Allow more if you want the museum collections and the church front before or after the climb.
What not to bring
Large bags and backpacks are not allowed in the tower or the museum. Storage is offered subject to availability. Food and drink are not allowed on the evening ticket.
Access
There is no lift to the top. The tower ticket is marked not suitable for people with reduced mobility, while the tower's own website describes an accessible route and a space that simulates the climb. If mobility matters, ask the tower before you book.
Combine with the neighbourhood
The Baixa packs a lot into a short walk: the tiled hall of São Bento railway station, the Livraria Lello bookshop on Rua das Carmelitas and the Cordoaria garden all lie in the same central district, and the Avenida dos Aliados runs up to the city hall.
Guides to Torre dos Clérigos
Guides to Torre dos Clérigos
When to go Best time to visit Torre dos Clérigos
Which month, which day and which hour suit the climb: Porto's weather and light, the evening ticket, and what the calendar does to the Baixa.
Read the guide → Getting there How to get to Torre dos Clérigos
From the airport, the railway stations and the metro: the routes into the Baixa, and the last stretch on foot to the tower in the middle of Porto.
Read the guide →- What to see What to see at Torre dos Clérigos Read the guide →
- With children Torre dos Clérigos with kids Read the guide →
- History Torre dos Clérigos history Read the guide →
- Practical guide Torre dos Clérigos: practical guide Read the guide →
- The climb How many steps in Torre dos Clérigos? Read the guide →
FAQ
Before you climb
Is Torre dos Clérigos worth climbing?
For the view, yes. The balconies look over the Baixa and the historic centre to the Douro, and on a clear day to the sea. The climb is short but steep and narrow, and there is no lift, so it suits anyone comfortable with a long spiral stair.
How many steps are there?
225 by the count on the ticket and in the Portuguese Wikipedia; 240 in the English Wikipedia and on Visit Porto. A 2015 newspaper count gave 197 from the ticket office, 225 from the church and 240 from the chapel. The steps guide sets them side by side.
How long does the climb take?
The ticket gives the duration as about 30 minutes. Allow longer if you also want the museum collections and the church front.
Is there a lift?
No. The ticket notes there is no lift to the top and marks the visit as not suitable for people with reduced mobility. The tower's own website describes an accessible route and a space that simulates the climb, so ask the tower about your needs before you book.
Does the ticket include the church and the museum?
The highlights of the tower ticket are the climb, the church front and the museum collections. They do not list the church interior, so check the description on the booking page for the ticket you choose.
Can I climb the tower at night?
Yes, with the separate evening ticket. It is for the tower only, unguided, in a small group, and it carries a warning for anyone with claustrophobia, heart problems or vertigo. The Brotherhood first opened the tower at night in the summer of 2015.
Can children climb?
Children can use the stairs if they can manage a long, narrow climb. Pushchairs cannot go up because there is no lift, and large bags stay below. Read the age bands on the booking page.
Is this the tower's own website?
No. This is an independent guide. It is neither the tower's own website nor a site run by the brotherhood or the museum, and it has no affiliation with them. Booking buttons open GetYourGuide, where payment is made.
A granite Baroque tower, and the whole of Porto at the top of its stair.
Book your climb ↗Prices are quoted per traveller in US dollars, and checkout shows the amount in your own currency.