Porto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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| District | Porto | ||
| Mayor - Party |
Rui Rio PSD |
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| Area | 41.66 km² | ||
| Population - Total - Density |
263 131 (2001) 6 292/km² |
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| Parishes | 15 parishes | ||
| Coordinates | 41º9' N 8º38'W | ||
| Municipal holiday |
S. João 24 June |
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| Official website: http://www.cm-porto.pt | |||
Porto (in English also Oporto), formerly Portucale, population 263,000 in 15 parishes, with 1,551,950 in the metropolitan area, is Portugal's second city and district seat. It is situated in the north of the country, on the northern bank of the Douro River, just in from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
The country of Portugal and Port Wine (Portuguese: Vinho do Porto) owe their names to the city of Porto.
One of Portugal's most internationally appreciated products is Port Wine. Its name comes from the fact that it ages in cellars in Porto's southern sister city Vila Nova de Gaia, just across the river Douro. Port Wine gets its distinctive taste from brandy that is added during the fermentation process. This additive causes fermentation to stop, allowing for much of the sweetness of the grape to remain intact. The results of this process were discovered quite by accident by British traders who added the brandy to the wine simply to fortify it for long sea voyages back to England.
Porto is one of the most industrialised districts in Portugal and the city of Porto in particularly is occasionally called "A capital do norte" (English: "The Capital of the North"), for it serves as the center of a higher industrialised northern region of Portugal, and is well known for its enterprising spirit, characteristic culture, people, and local cuisine.
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History
Historic references to the city go back to the 5th century and to Roman times. In the period before the foundation of Portugal, it was named Portus Cale - Harbour of Cale in English. The surrounding county was thus named Condado Portucalense (English: Portuguese county). This county later became the independent kingdom called Portugal, which eventually expanded to its current frontiers south as it reconquered territory back from the invading Moors under the reign of King Dom Afonso Henriques, o Conquistador in the beginning of the first millennium.
This city was the scene for the marriage of João I and Philippa of Lancaster, symbolising the long-standing military alliance between Portugal and England.
In 1754, the Italian architect Nasoni designed a tower that was built in one of the central zones of the city and became its icon: Torre dos Clérigos (English: Tower of the Clerics).
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the city became an important industrial centre and saw its size and population increase. A two-level iron bridge - Dom Luís I - (designed by the Belgian engineer Téophile Seyrig) and a railway bridge - Maria Pia -, designed by Gustave Eiffel, in association with Seyrig, were constructed, as well as the central railway station (São Bento, considered to be one of the most beautiful in Europe ornamented with lavish painted tiles). A university (Aula de Náutica, 1762) and stock exchange (Bolsa do Porto, 1834) were established in the city. For having bravely resisted to a military invasion in the 19th century the city is now also known as The Unvanquished City (A Cidade Invicta).
Culture
Porto has several museums, concert halls, theaters and cinemas. The most well known museums of Oporto are the Soares dos Reis National Museum (Museu Nacional de Soares dos Reis) that is dedicated especially to the portuguese artistical movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Serralves Foundation (Museu de Arte Contemporânea). The city has concert halls of a rare beauty and elegance like the Coliseu do Porto, an exquisite example of the portuguese decorative arts, the Rivoli theatre and the more recent Batalha cinema.
Transportation
Known as the city of bridges, the first permanent bridge, the Ponte das Barcas (a pontoon bridge) was built in 1806, but three years later was sabotaged to prevent the invasion led by Marshal Soult during the Peninsular War with Napoleonic troops, who were believed to be coming from the south. However, they appeared from the north, and the population, unware of the situation, tried to flee through it en masse, causing the death of around 4000 locals. It was replaced in 1843 by the Ponte D. Maria II, known as Ponte Pênsil (suspended), of which only the supporting pylons remain, after being replaced by the Luís I and the Maria Pia bridges. During the 20th century, other bridges were built: Arrábida, which, at its opening, had the biggest concrete supporting arch in the world, for high speed traffic in the West side of the city. Then came S. João, to replace Maria Pia. And Freixo for high speed traffic in the East side of the city. The newest bridge is Ponte do Infante, finished in 2003.
The city is internally connected by an extensive bus network, a mixed subway that operates both under and above ground, the STCP (Sociedade dos Transportes Colectivos do Porto, Porto Public Transport Society) which also operates lines in neighbouring cities of Gaia, Maia and Gondomar. Other smaller companies operate sleeping cars from farther cities inside the metropolitan area, such as Paços de Ferreira or Santo Tirso to the town center. In the past the city also had trolley-buses. A tram network, of which only a tourist line on the shores of the Douro remain, saw its construction begin in 12 September 1895, therefore being the first in the Iberian Peninsula. Taxicabs are available at most squares, and are recognizable as cream sedans (usually Mercedes-Benz models).
The road system capacity is augmented by the Via de Cintura Interna, an internal highway connected to several national highways and city exits, complementing the Circunvalação 4-way road, which borders the north of the city and connects the eastern side of the city to the Atlantic shore.
Due to the works in the Porto Metro and other public services, the traffic in some areas is disrupted frequently.
Currently the major project in development is the Porto Metro system. It is the most expensive public construction project currently in progress in Europe, mainly due to the city's soil, which is extremely complex from a technical perspective and very expensive to dig. Consequently, the Infante bridge was built, for urban traffic, replacing the Dom Luís I, which will be dedicated to the subway on the second and higher of the bridge's two levels.
Highlights
In 2001, Porto shared the designation European Culture Capital (together with the Dutch city of Rotterdam). In the scope of these events, the construction of the major concert hall space Casa da Música, designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, was initiated.
In recent years, UNESCO recognised the historic centre (which dates back to the Middle Ages and the Roman Empire) as a World Heritage Site.
The Fantasporto International Film Festival is also a great cultural event of the city, attracting many national and foreign film commentators to the city.
Several architectonic highlights adorn the city of Porto, from the main avenue in the cities center Avenida dos Aliados [English: Allies Avenue, after Portugal's participation in WWI], to the magnificent gardens of Palacio de Cristal, and from the millennia-old well-preserved Romanic churches to the myriads of painted tile-adorned interior and exterior walls that appear in both interiors, in the São Bento Station, and exteriors, in the church of Santo Ildefonso.
A guided visit to the old city's stock exchange (Bolsa), and in particular the Arab Room, is a gem that any visitor shouldn't miss.
Oporto is a small (in the european context) but an extremelly rich city in cultural and historical terms. But its progressive abandonment is very prejudicial to its integrity. The more ancient houses are abondoned and the local government doesn't practice much actions of maintenance. Much of the city's oldest houses are in risk of collapsing.
Economy
Porto has always rivaled Lisbon in economic power despite its much smaller size (approximately half the size). As the most important city in the heavily industrialised north, many of the largest Portuguese corporations are headquartered in this city.
The city's stock exchange (Bolsa do Porto) merged with Lisbon's, originating Bolsa de Valores de Lisboa, which later merged with Euronext, together with Amsterdam, Brussels, LIFFE and Paris.
Porto hosts the most popular Portuguese newspaper, Jornal de Notícias. The building where its offices are located (which has the same name as the newspaper) was up to recently one of the tallest in the city (it has been superseded by a number of modern buildings which have been built in the last 10 years).
Porto Editora, the most important Portuguese publisher, is also in Porto. Its dictionaries are considered the standard reference works for Portuguese.
Education
The city has a large number of public and private basic and secondary schools, as well as kindergartens and nurseries. Due to the depopulation of the city's interior, however, the number of students has dropped substantially in the last decade, forcing a closure of some institutions.
For graduate and post-graduate education, Porto has several universities, the larger one being the state-managed University of Porto. The University of Porto (Universidade do Porto) is the largest portuguese university with approximately 40.000 students. There are also state-managed Institutes (Technical Colleges) and privately-owned institutions like the Catholique University (Universidade Católica) and the OPorto Higher Education School of Arts (ESAP- Escola Superior Artística do Porto). Due to the recognition, potential for employment and higher revenue, there are many students from the entire country and Portuguese-speaking African countries, although particularly from the north of Portugal, attending a college or university in Porto.
Sports
As in most Portuguese cities, football is the most important sport in the city. Top division champions FC Porto and Boavista FC are both from Porto, while SC Salgueiros, a third club, has fallen into heavy debts and now plays in the third division after being one of the most regular first division clubs during the 80s and 90s. There are two major grounds, the Estádio do Dragão and the Estádio do Bessa, owned by the two SuperLiga clubs and present in the Euro 2004 . Salgueiros, who sold their Vidal Pinheiro ground to the Porto Metro company planned to build a new one in the Arca d'Água zone, few hundred meters away from the old grounds, but due to a large underground water pocket, it is impossible to build there, and so they moved to the Estádio do Mar in Matosinhos, owned by Leixões SC. As there isn't a multi-purpose city-owned stadium, the only with athletics track is the Estádio Universitário, where the rugby team of the CDUP (Porto University Sports Team) plays. There are other football grounds, with sand or dirt surfaces, owned by clubs in the amateur league, featured in a cult show on NTV (now RTP N) named N*Amadores, the exception being FC Porto's second stadium, the Campo da Constituição, now a footballing school.
FC Porto has been crowned the kings of European football twice by winning the Champions League in 1987 and 2004.
There are other sports arenas in Porto, notably the city-owned Pavilhão Rosa Mota (now unused due to a bad relationship between the mayor and the FC Porto board), swimming pools in the Constituição area, between the Marquês and Boavista, and other minor arenas, such as the Pavilhão do Académico.
In 1958 and 1960, Porto's streets hosted the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix on the Boavista street circuit. A reenactment of the races was held from 8 July to 10 July 2005.
Neighbourhoods
- Aldoar
- Bonfim
- Campanhã
- Cedofeita
- Foz do Douro
- Lordelo do Ouro
- Massarelos
- Miragaia
- Nevogilde
- Paranhos
- Ramalde
- São Nicolau
- Santo Ildefonso
- Sé
- Vitória
Gallery
 View from the Douro River |
 Avenida dos Aliados at the beginning of the XX century |
 Another view from the Douro |
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 A Metro Sign and the Casa da Música concert hall |
 City Park |
 S. Bento train station |
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 Pavilhão Rosa Mota Sports arena and XVIII aristocratic garden |
 Coliseu do Porto Opera, concert, and theatre house |
 Castelo do Queijo Coastal fortress |
 Map of Porto neighbourhoods |
 Ancient part of Ribeira |
 City Hall |
 Ponte D'Arrabida |
Trivia
- Invicta
Occasionally Porto is also called "Cidade Invicta" (English: Unvanquished City) after its brilliant and victorious resistance to the Napoleonic Imperial army.
- Tripeiro
An anecdote from the times of Portugal's expansion overseas tells of the citizens of Porto providing meat for the sailors and retaining only tripes (tripas in Portuguese) for themselves. The Portans thus acquired the nickname tripeiros, which is still in use today. From the same episode a typical dish from this city was created, Tripas à Moda do Porto (Tripes à la Porto in English), which still can be found everywhere in the city today.
External links
- Official homepage of Porto city council (in Portuguese)
- Porto City of Bridges
- Journey Planner in Porto (Journey Planner - English/Portuguese)
- A few pictures of the city, available under Creative Commons Licence (CC-BY)
