Located in an old building of Porto’s Court of Appeal, the Portuguese Center for Photography had officially opened in 1997. This started as a Court of Appeal and receives later the function of a prision, where workshops, punishment cells and a Chappell were in attendance.
After being abandoned, the prison was occupied by shelter seeking squatters, which led the Portuguese Institute for Heritage decide to undergo a restoration of the building, in which Eduardo Souto Moura and Humberto Vieira were very important architects.
In itself, the center is a beautiful place to visit with its indoor patios and gardens, and its special vast exhibition spaces, which still preserve the enfolding history of the place.