The station is built on the site of an old Benedictine monastery, named Sao Bento de Ave Maria, dating back to the 16th century, though the original building burnt down in 1783 and its replacement was poorly cared for, it too finding itself in a serious state of disrepair at the end of the 1900s.With the expansion of the railways, it was decided the site should be the new home of Porto’s mainline station, and work began on the terminal building in 1900.The first stone was laid by King Carlos I to underline his support of the project, the design of which was entrusted to the local architect, Jose Marques da Silva in French Beaux-Arts style.Due to the sheer size of the project, Sao Bento Train Station was finally inaugurated in 1916. This was due not only to the physical size of the space but to the 20,000 traditional azulejos, or Portuguese tiles, which were used to adorn the interior.