Oporto - Praça da Liberdade

The spacious Praça da Liberdade is graced by a statue, on horseback, of King Pedro IV (d. 1834), who was also Emperor Pedro I of Brazil from 1822 to 1831. Off the north side of the square opens the Avenida dos Aliados, a broad avenue laid out in 1923-29 after the demolition of an old residential quarter and now lined by banks and imposing office blocks, leading up to the City Hall. With its high central tower this early 20th C. granite building is reminiscent of its Dutch and Belgian counterparts.