Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and gives its name to the country and port wine. The old town with its vibrant Ribeira district with its narrow cobbled streets lined with shops and cafés lies on the banks of the river. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
During an extensive tour of the city, we were very impressed by the cloister of the Romanesque cathedral Sé do Porto with its azulejos. The palatial Palácio de Bolsa is also interesting. It was built in the 19th century as a stock exchange to impress potential European investors. On the other side of the Douro, in Vila Nova de Gaia, are the port wine cellars.
Ribeira
The Ribeira (Portuguese for riverbank) is the name given to the lower part of the historic city centre, close to the banks of the Douro.
The centre of the Ribeira is the riverside promenade Cais de Ribeira. Numerous bars, souvenir shops and restaurants are lined up here. The traditional port wine boats (barcos rabelos) are moored on the banks.
Ponte Dom Luís I
The bridge over the Douro was built according to the plans of the engineer Théophile Seyrig, a pupil of Gustave Eiffel. It was inaugurated on 31 October 1886 by King Louis I of Portugal (Dom Luís), whose name it bears.
The bridge has two levels: The metro runs above the arch, while on the lower level it forms a road connection.
The Romanesque Cathedral Sé do Porto
The cathedral of Porto watches over the city from atop a hill in the historic centre.
It is the seat of the bishop of the diocese of Porto. Together with the historic centre of Porto, the church has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. The church was built in the 12th century. The Romanesque façade dates from the first construction phase. The cathedral has been remodelled several times over the centuries. However, the church has managed to retain its typical Romanesque architecture.
The Gothic cloister with its azulejos is very impressive.
Pictures of the cathedral and the unique cloister, which is decorated with azulejos.
View from the cathedral hill
The statue of Vimara Peres stands in front of the cathedral. As a vassal of King Alfonso III of Asturias, he was tasked with reconquering areas in the Duero valley from the Moors, who had conquered Visigothic Hispania in the 8th century. Vimara built a small castle near Braga, which was named Vimaranis (later, through phonetic development: Guimarães - see photos of Guimarães).
Bishop's Palace
Cais da Ribera, above it the Igreja de São Lourenço and the Cathedral of Porto (Sé Cathedral) including the dominant Bishop's Palace.
Palácio da Bolsa
The Stock Exchange Palace is a building originally used as a stock exchange and commercial court. It was built in the 19th century by the Associação Comercial do Porto, the Chamber of Commerce of the city of Porto, in neoclassical style. Today, the Palácio da Bolsa is used as a conference centre. The Moorish Hall (Salao arabe) was built between 1860 and 1879 by Goncalves de Soursa, who modelled it on the Alhambra in Granada.
View from the Stock Exchange Palace
Town hall (Cémara Municipal do Porto)
This building is located at the far end of Avenida dos Aliados. In the centre is a 70-metre-high fortress tower with a carillon, to which an internal staircase of 180 steps leads.
Pictures of the town hall and the walk to the Torre dos Clérigos
Picture 4: Rua CleErigos, to the left of the centre of the picture the Igreja dos Congregados, at the end of the street the Igreja Sto. Ildefonso.
Picture 5: Porto was the first city in Portugal to introduce electric trams (1895).
Torre dos Clérigos
The church was built in the mid-18th century by the Italian baroque architect Nicolau Nasoni and is a landmark of the city of Porto. At his request, Nasoni was buried in a small chapel with a lattice door at the level of the last landing of the double flight of steps.
The entire façade of the church has a very beautiful and interesting baroque decoration that you should definitely take a closer look at. The single-nave church interior, in granite and marble and decorated with baroque wood carvings, also reveals the architect's mastery. The polychrome retable by Manuel Porto in the choir deserves special mention.
But the most striking element is the granite tower on the west side of the church. This 75 metre high, elegant tower is an unmistakable landmark of the town.
Igreja de São Lourenço
The church of São Lourenco is also popularly known as the ‘Church of the Crickets’. It was built in 1577 by the Jesuits in the Mannerist Baroque and Jesuit style. The Jesuits were expelled in 1759 by order of the Marquis of Pombal and the church was donated to the University of Coimbra until it was bought by the Barefoot Brothers of St Augustine, who lived there from 1780 to 1832. These friars arrived from Spain in 1663 and first settled in Lisbon on the site of Grilo, where they quickly won the favour of the locals and were given the name ‘Monk Crickets’, giving their name to the church where they lived in Porto.
The church is now a museum.
Interior view
Igreja dos Congregados
The Congregados church, decorated with azulejos, is located in Praca de Almeida Garrett.
The church was built in 1703 on the site of a chapel dedicated to St Anthony from 1662, which had been destroyed a few years earlier for the construction of the church. It was attached to the monastery of the Congregation of the Oratory.
To the right of the church is the railway station with magnificent azulejos in the ticket hall.
Railway station Porto São Bento
The station is located on the site of the former Mosteiro de São Bento de Avé-Maria monastery, of which only the name remains today. The station itself was designed by the architect José Marques da Silva, while the entrance hall, decorated with numerous azulejos, was created by the painter Jorge Colaço. The station can be seen in the first picture on the right-hand side.
Castelo de São Francisco Xavier
At the end of the long Avenida da Boavista, this castelo is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Douro. It is also known as Castelo do Queijo (Cheese Castle) due to its shape, which is reminiscent of a wheel of cheese.
Burmester
Our tour of the city ended with a visit and tasting at a port wine producer.
J. W. Burmester & Ca. Lda. is a producer and trading house for port wine. The company was founded in 1730
