I had a favourite bookstore till I received to the Hundredth Web page – Opinion

After the flowery gardens of Santa Barbara, the spectacular organs of the cathedral and the golden opulence of the Church of Santa Cruz, it appeared {that a} day in Braga might maintain no extra surprises. All I needed to do was take a look at the Hundred Web page, a discreet bookstore within the metropolis heart that appears to be ready for unwary guide lovers.

It was one of many locations I used to be most excited to find in 2022. I visited it over the summer season and it received me serious about what makes a bookstore, particularly this one, such a welcoming place.

Separated

100 pages

The inside of Centésima Página bookstore in Braga

credit: Pedro Neves

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When wandering down unfamiliar paths, few surprises are extra comforting than discovering a bookstore.

Within the case of the bookstore in Braga, if we do not know it is there, it is simple to overlook. Going through the Praça da República, just a few steps from the historic metropolis heart, it’s housed in an 18th-century constructing often called Casa Rolão.

The constructing’s age in all probability does not enable for giant indicators or attention-grabbing, and this in the end contributes to a sure sense of modesty. Solely a more in-depth look by the glass facade reveals cabinets filled with books.

labyrinth

We stroll by a bookstore like we stroll by a maze. Is that why these areas appear so playful and alluring to us?

Centésima Página shares this labyrinthine high quality, particularly in its largest room, lined with books to the ceiling (together with a staircase) and dominated within the heart by a bookcase paying homage to the curve of a guide web page.

landscaped

The backyard of a bookshop Hundredth web page

The backyard on the hundredth web page

credit: Pedro Neves

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My favourite bookstores invite guests to linger, whether or not by strategically positioned couches or little studying nooks. Some, rarer, provide one thing much more useful: a backyard. Within the heart of the town, with the gravitational pull of purchasing malls and the difficulties inherent within the guide enterprise, strolling right into a retailer and strolling out into the yard with a guide looks like a godsend.

We do not instantly discover the backyard on the Hundredth Web page. Like somebody who retains a secret and waits for the precise second to disclose it, it’s only once we attain the youngsters’s space, within the again room, that we discover it, spacious and alluring. In late summer season it’s inexperienced and plush. In winter, the foliage offers strategy to delicacy and the area appears to be lit up by the blooming magnolia there.

bookstore-cafeteria

On this planet of letters, is there a greater assembly of phrases than a bookstore-cafeteria? Or the most effective place to satisfy? A bookstore-cafeteria is a kind of binomials that at all times works properly.

The historic heart of Braga has a tremendous focus of fascinating eating places to strive, however you do not have to place down your books to strive a scrumptious lunch.

Hundred Web page Bookstore

• Deal with: Av. Central, nº 118-120, Braga
• Opening hours: out there on the official web page.