Livraria Bertrand Chiado

Entering Bertrand Bookshop in Chiado and exploring its seven rooms equals walking through a part of Portuguese history and literature.

Recognized by Guinness World Records in 2011 as the oldest bookstore in the world still in operation, Bertrand Chiado lives up to the saying 'with age comes standing,' given that Bertrand Chiado has been selling books continuously since 1732."

"The end is the beginning" — this is how the Bertrand Manifesto begins, and it’s also a fitting way to start an expedition through Bertrand Chiado: entering via the main door on Rua Garrett or through the Café Bertrand entrance, opened in May 2017, on Rua da Anchieta.

If we choose the main entrance, the first room to welcome us is the Aquilino Ribeiro Room. To the right, next to the bookshelf highlighting his works, we find the "Aquilino’s Corner," a place where the writer once withdrew for reading and contemplation.

Bertrand Chiado is a unique bookstore; more than a place to buy books, it offers an expedition through various rooms dedicated to celebrated authors.

After Aquilino, we find spaces dedicated to José Saramago, Eça de Queiroz, Almada Negreiros, Alexandre Herculano, and Sophia de Mello Breyner, each with a dedicated bookshelf showcasing their works and a plaque recounting their story.

If, on the other hand, we choose the Café Bertrand entrance, we are greeted by a large mural by Tamara Alves featuring the poet Fernando Pessoa, who lends his name to the seventh and final room, once a mere storeroom.

This space further highlights the fusion of history and modernity, allowing customers to combine flavors with their reading.

The Café invites both the curious and the less curious to “sample books,” a tribute to these objects that hold culinary and gastronomic wisdom. With recipes from Portuguese and international cuisine, it serves customers from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., matching the bookstore's opening hours.

The corridor, a link between each room and equally unique, is considered an open book of the bookstore's history, as it is adorned with several paintings that tell a bit of Bertrand’s story.

In it, we can find, for example, an excerpt from a letter by Almeida Garrett, from Relações de Garrett com os Bertrand – Cartas Inéditas: 1834 – 1853, praising the work of the Bertrand brothers.

Walking through this corridor with attention is to explore both space and time; it’s to find, in every corner and room, books and authors, as well as pieces of Lisbon and Portugal. Perhaps this is why Bertrand attracts both Portuguese and foreign visitors!

The secret to this bookstore’s historical wealth lies in its enduring presence over time: not only limited to selling books, it has also hosted illustrious figures from Portuguese history, thought, and literature. It has witnessed events such as the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, a civil war, a regicide, the establishment of the Portuguese Republic, the unification of Europe, and many others.

Frequented by prominent figures of Portuguese literature, such as Bocage, José Agostinho Macedo, and Curvo Semedo, it was also a gathering place for literary salons by writers from the Generation of '70, including Alexandre Herculano, Eça de Queiroz, and Ramalho Ortigão.

Bertrand Chiado holds stories that have shaped it over its 285 years. One example is the story of José Fontana, a former bookseller and one of the managers who passed through this establishment. The founder of the Fraternity Workers Association, when already suffering from tuberculosis, tragically took his own life in what was then the bookstore's storeroom, now the Café Bertrand.

Another piece of this bookstore’s history is the Bertrand Almanac, founded in 1899 and considered a collector's item by some readers. It was published until 1969, only resuming its editions in 2011, when Bertrand Chiado was recognized as the oldest bookstore in the world still in operation.

Within it, one can find notable dates, information on the phases of the moon, the start of the seasons, a map of time zones, poems, caricatures, crosswords, short stories, recipes, and more...

With almost three centuries of existence, Bertrand has not stood still in time.

The online store, the simplification of the purchasing process — through reservations or online purchases with in-store pick-up — and the benefits of the Leitor Bertrand card bring modernity and project the world’s oldest bookstore into the future.

The Reading Clubs, held on the third Monday of every month (at Bertrand Bookshop in Chiado), aimed at discussing a specific book, along with the Literature Courses and Children's Bookseller Courses, bring book lovers to Bertrand and encourage reading among both adults and children.

In January 2019, Bertrand Bookshop in Chiado was recognized by Lisbon City Council as “Loja com História” or  "Store with History."

The municipal program Lojas com História ("Stores with History"), created in 2015, prioritizes working with traditional and historic shops in Lisbon to both preserve and safeguard these establishments and their material, historical, and cultural heritage, while also revitalizing and boosting commercial activity essential to their survival.

We take pride in seeing Bertrand Bookshop in Chiado associated with this initiative.

In July 2020, Bertrand Bookshop in Coimbra, located at Largo da Portagem, was also recognized by Coimbra City Council as a "Store with History."

Opened in 1970 at its current location, Bertrand Coimbra was the seventh Bertrand bookstore to open and is now the fourth oldest in operation, following Chiado, Avenida de Roma, and Viana.

This year, its 50 years of history are honored with this distinction.