Casa dos Arcos (Antiga Capitania do Porto)
A row of arches gave it the name; Silva Rocha gave it the new style. The civic uses came and went around both.
At a glance
The Casa dos Arcos — the “house of arches” — stands on the central canal that runs through the heart of Aveiro. The arcaded ground floor gives the building its popular name, while its upper storeys carry the floral, sinuous vocabulary of Arte Nova, the Portuguese branch of Art Nouveau. The remodelling that gave it this face is attributed to Francisco Augusto da Silva Rocha, the architect who set the tone for Art Nouveau Aveiro and who directed the city’s school of industrial design. The building is part of a tight cluster of Arte Nova houses along the canal, a few minutes’ walk from the Casa do Major Pessoa.
Key facts
- Arte Nova remodelling: attributed to Francisco Augusto da Silva Rocha
- Period: early twentieth century (remodelling reported around 1903)
- Earlier names and uses: Casa dos Arcos; the Fernando Caldeira industrial design school; the Capitania do Porto (port authority)
- Setting: the central canal, historic centre of Aveiro
- Style: Arte Nova / Portuguese Art Nouveau
- Status: classified cultural-heritage building
History
Aveiro’s Art Nouveau boom of the early twentieth century was driven by money made overseas and given form by one architect above all: Francisco Augusto da Silva Rocha, born in Mealhada in 1864, who directed the town’s school of industrial design and was nicknamed “the Portuguese Gaudí” for the originality of his work. The Casa dos Arcos is one of the buildings tied to his name in the historic centre.
The building is best known by its succession of civic roles. Its heritage listing records it as the former home of the Fernando Caldeira industrial design school and, later, of the Capitania do Porto, the authority that oversaw the lagoon’s harbour and salt trade. Through those changes the arcaded front remained, and with it the name the city still uses.
Today the Casa dos Arcos reads as one chapter in Aveiro’s admission to the Réseau Art Nouveau Network — the European circuit of Art Nouveau cities — alongside the better-known Casa do Major Pessoa, now the Museu Arte Nova.
What you see
The ground floor opens in a line of arches onto the canal-side street, a colonnade that doubles as the building’s signature. Above, the windows and balconies carry the curving stone mouldings and ironwork that mark Aveiro’s Arte Nova, the ornament concentrated around the openings rather than spread flat across the wall.
Seen from the opposite bank of the canal, the building takes its place in a row of decorated facades that turn the waterway into an open-air catalogue of the style.
Practical information
- The exterior is the attraction and can be seen from the canal-side street at any time.
- Best light is mid-morning, when the sun is on the canal facades.
- Combine it with the Arte Nova walk along the canal and Rua João Mendonça.
- Time needed: a few minutes, longer on a full Arte Nova circuit.
Getting there
The building is in the historic centre of Aveiro, on the central canal, a short walk from the train station served by frequent regional and Intercidades trains from Porto and Coimbra. The compact centre is best explored on foot.
Nearby
- Casa do Major Pessoa, now the Museu Arte Nova.
- Casa da Cooperativa Agrícola and Casa dos Ovos Moles on Rua João Mendonça.
- Aveiro — the capital of Portuguese Arte Nova (city guide).
Sources
- Câmara Municipal de Aveiro, património edificado.
- e-cultura.pt, “Aveiro, cidade Arte Nova”.
- Portuguese cultural-heritage inventory (DGPC / SIPA), Aveiro.
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