Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace

The Crystal Palace was a building that existed in the parish of Massarelos "Porto".
Inaugurated in 1865, the original Crystal Palace was demolished in 1951 to make way for the Sports Pavilion, now the Pavilhão Rosa Mota.
The Crystal Palace, designed by English architect Thomas Dillen Jones, was built in granite, iron and glass, with the London Crystal Palace as a model. It measured 150 m long by 72 m wide and was divided into three naves.
Its construction began in 1861, being inaugurated on September 18, 1865 by King D. Luís.
It was designed to host the great Industrial Exhibition of Porto and the Peninsula, organized by the then Industrial Association of Porto, today Associação Empresarial de Portugal. The Industrial Exhibition, in addition to having the official visit of King D. Luís, D. Maria Pia and the Crown Prince, also had 3,139 exhibitors, of which 499 French, 265 German, 107 British, 89 Belgians, 62 Brazilians , 24 Spaniards, 16 Danes and representatives from Russia, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United States and Japan.
In 1933, the building and its gardens were acquired by the Porto City Council.
Throughout its 86 years of existence, the Palácio de Cristal has hosted many more exhibitions, namely the Colonial Exhibition, opened in June 1934. This exhibition survives the Monument to the Portuguese Colonizing Effort, currently placed on the west top of Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa .
The Crystal Palace was also an important cultural space, containing a pipe organ that was one of the largest in the world. It was in this palace that important concerts were held by the composer Viana da Mota or by the virtuous cellist Guilhermina Suggia.
The palace was destroyed in 1951, and a reinforced concrete nave was erected in its place, which was given the name of the Sports Pavilion (which the photo documents), according to a project by Architect Carlos Loureiro and under the pretext of the World Championship. Roller hockey. However, the popular designation of the Crystal Palace has survived to the present day.