Livraria Lello in Porto: the real history, the Harry Potter myth debunked by Rowling herself, the Art Nouveau architecture and how to visit today.
Everyone photographs the staircase from below. Very few look up at the ceiling. The stained glass skylight with the Latin inscription Decus in Labore (honour in work) is one of the finest architectural details in all of Porto — and almost always ignored. The bookshop charges a €5 entry voucher, fully redeemable against any book purchase, a measure introduced in 2015 to manage overtourism while keeping the bookshop financially viable.