I’ve been to Livraria Lello & Irmão a couple of times this year already — once in January and also last week. That reminded me to post about some recent changes to the visits which aren’t mentioned on the bookstore’s website or social media, only a link to reserve and pay for a visit. The booked voucher is €5.50 online (€5 fee + $0.50 admin fee). The new entrance fee is €4, as of this writing.
(Here’s a background post on the introduction of an entrance fee, the Cartão Amigo, etc.)
In mid-2015, Lello introduced a €3 entrance fee that was deductible from any purchases over that amount. Visitors would queue to pay the fee at a red booth across the street from the bookstore. Later that year, they introduced the Cartão Amigo for local residents, which waived the entrance fee. In 2016, Lello exceeded a million visits and sold five times more books than in 2015. Their new goal for 2017, as stated by store representative Pedro Pinto on January 12, is to spark book sales from an estimated 65% of Lello visitors who aren’t buying books.
What’s New In 2017
The red booth across the street has been retired. Instead, Lello has taken over Armazéns do Castelo on the corner of the street, which is the new check-in desk for Lello to collect the entrance fee of €4. The fee will only be deductible from one book, not general items. Lello has also moved many of their souvenir items to Armazéns do Castelo to display more books.
Currently, Lello is encouraging visitors to book their visit ahead of time, online. You choose the date and the time you wish to visit; the capacity (80 people) and spaces remaining for each 15-minute time slot is shown on the screen. Payments are accepted with Visa, Mastercard, or PayPal. I’m guessing this system is the only way to deal with groups. If you’re not part of a group and aren’t on a schedule, I recommend just turning up. If you wish to avoid a queue, book your visit in advance.
I took a photo of the entrance sign with my phone on January 11 to clarify some other conditions of entry:
Lello turned 111 years old recently, and is enjoying its popularity due to the unofficial association with “Harry Potter” and J.K. Rowling fans. (It remains unofficial as J.K. Rowling has neither confirmed or denied any links to the store. In fact, if you read the story about her brief time in Porto, it’s actually quite sad and not a cause for celebration.)
Last spring, Lello embarked on months of renovation, replacing the stained glass ceiling and renewing other parts of the building. I didn’t take photos of the new facade on this visit, but you can see it here and here. It doesn’t look that different from the original, except it has some darker colours. From what I’ve read (I can’t find the article anymore), while Lello was in the midst of repainting the facade, they performed a chemical analysis of the layers of paint and discovered the original colours. Once they made that discovery, they chose to restore the facade to its original look.
I’ve been taking photos (and some video) of Livraria Lello since 2011, you can view the collection here.
February 2, 2017
Album: Portugal [Winter 2016/2017]
