Porto's Crystal Palace was designed by English architect Thomas Dillen Jones and the Anglo-Irish engineer Francis Webb Sheilds.

It was built at Torre da Marca on the edge of the city centre in granite, iron and glass, with the Crystal Palace in London serving as a model, as Jones and Sheilds had both worked on that building.

[1][2] Surrounded by landscaped gardens, the Palácio de Cristal became a popular place for residents of Porto to visit, even when there were no events in progress.

The building contained a pipe organ that was one of the largest in the world and hosted concerts by noted Portuguese performers such as the pianist and composer José Vianna da Motta and the cellist Guilhermina Suggia.

[1][2][3] The palace was demolished in 1951, with a reinforced-concrete dome that became known as the UFO quickly erected in its place, in order to host the 1952 Roller Hockey World Cup.

There was much popular opposition to the building's destruction, leading the authorities to retain the name for the surrounding gardens, which are known as the Jardins do Palacio de Cristal.