Batalha Square

The main façade, in a style intermediate between baroque and neoclassical, carries the coat-of-arms of the former owners (Silvas, Guedes, Melos e Pereiras).

During the Siege of Porto (1832) the owners left the building and it was used for several purposes, including blood hospital.

[citation needed] The square was urbanised in 1861, when a statue of King Pedro V of Portugal, standing over a pedestal, was erected right in front of Batalha Palace.

In 1794, it was here that the Oporto's opera house, the Royal Theatre of São João, was built.

Another important cultural venue of the square is the Cinema Batalha, a landmark of Portuguese Art Deco architecture dating from 1947.