Historic Centre of Porto The history of Porto, which is proudly known as the Cidade Association), the Ferreira Borges Market and the building known as the Alfândega Nova (New Customs Invicta (Invencible City) is profoundly linked to the River Douro, that hard to navigate river House), at the entrance to Miragaia, clearly attest to this. which curves and proudly displays its six bridges, inviting observation… of the D. Luís bridge, At the end of the middle ages, the city began to spread beyond the upper town - the Episcopal city - and the lower a cast iron structure in the 19th century style, whose higher and lower levels link the banks mercantile and trading town. From the beginning of the 14th century, the hillside once known as Olival, nowa- of the cities of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. Both have a history and stories to tell, both banks days named Vitória, saw a new urban dynamism, thanks to the creation of the New Jewish Quarter, in the street invite us to stop a while. where the São Bento da Vitória Monastery would eventually be built. In the 18th century the Clérigos Church, with its house and tower, paid homage to the Christian faith with its art, setting its stamp on the personality of Leaving the Monastery of Santo Agostinho da Serra do Pilar, through the top level of the bridge, we soon the place and becoming the trademark of the city. This masterpiece of baroque architecture was designed by the arrive at Porto Cathedral, the symbol of what was once the Episcopal city. The initial settlement of the Italian Nicolau Nasoni, who was also responsible for designing the facade of the Misericórdia Church in the Rua Cidade Invicta was on this spot, at Morro da Pena Ventosa, the stormy cliff. Here, the City Wall, a remnant of das Flores, a street with noble and stately houses that linked the Porto lower town to the upper part of the city. the medieval defensive structure, is a clear reminder of when Porto had to protect itself from enemy attack There were buildings attesting as vividly to the power of man as to the power of faith. A good example of this during the time when the Christian faith was becoming firmly established. Defying the Episcopal power, the is the Old Jail and Courthouse that overlooks the Cordoaria garden. Nearby, the Santo António General Mendicant Orders settled in the city and founded their respective monasteries: Santa Clara in the upper city Hospital is a jewel in the crown of the city, proudly flaunting it neo-Palladian architecture in a design by and São Francisco in the lower city, the home of bourgeois and traders. the English architect John Carr. Porto is one of the rare European cities that has preserved its fabric of a medieval port – in the area around At the heart of the city is São Bento Station, one of the most beautiful and original railway stations in the world. the Praça da Ribeira we have the coin minting centre and the 15th century stock exchange – the Casa It was designed by Porto architect José Marques da Silva and testifies to the eclectic nature that has marked do Infante. The strategic position of this section of the city has made it a major player since then in the the city over the years, its essence and its spirit. Here, the influence of the early 20th century beaux-arts style mercantile economy of Porto and even of the surrounding region. The Palácio da Bolsa (Porto Commercial predominates. Crossing the Avenida dos Aliados, the heart of the city and its civic centre, we soon arrive at the Livraria Lello (Lello Bookshop), dating from the beginning of the 20th century, one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world, which lures us inside to read. On the Gaia bank, the Port Wine Cellars in the riverside area of Vila Nova de Gaia invite us to taste the wine Cultural Landscape of the Alto Douro Wine Region that adopted the name of the city where it was stored and marketed. Archaeological Sites in the River Côa Valley The Douro is a territory that There is much more to be discovered and enjoyed in the Historic Centre of Porto. But there is also a lot to see in the stretches, curves and ruckles in a corridor full of geographical gradients that give it structure surrounding areas, where other monuments, galleries and museums make a part of the multifaceted cultural feast and complexity. The river is a line unifying close and distant geographies exuding an earthbound on offer. Here, music has found a home– the Casa da Música; contemporary art has a space (or multiple spaces) ambience, as borne out by the scattered remains from prehistoric times and the timeless stories where it is exhibited, experienced and equipped with shops – the Serralves Museum; the cuisine follows a special of devotion. 1 2 3 4 route, from the smallest local tavern to the gourmet restaurant; the nightlife has its own unique flavour; the cul- 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 tural and university facilities are now recognised as world class. Porto really does invite you to come back (often)! From the Douro to the Côa, where man inscribed meaningful lines over 20,000 years ago, this is a vibrant territory, rich in cycles of eternal recommencement. Since then, the Douro has taken form through the appropriation of the land broken up by the sweat of legions of men, in a cultural syncretism over several centuries that has left indelible marks on the unique variations that make of this territory a unique whole. However, through this long period one crop has asserted itself over all others, transforming the entire regional space: the vine. In the constant perfecting of this crop and the careful management of the natural elements to adapt them to such adverse conditions, Douro man has crystallised the thin, austere 5 6 7 8 5 6 73 8 soils into fortified nectar: Port Wine! It is the region’s most artificial product, and, simultaneously, the 5 6 7 8 most profoundly human. Demarcated two hundred and fifty years ago, the Douro is one of the regions with the greatest homogeneity of landscape in Portugal. According to the geographer Orlando Ribeiro, “In the Douro, on hillsides that previously only produced wild scrub, a staircase of terraces began to be raised in the 17th century, destined to shore up the land, partly created from ground rocks, river mud and basketfuls of manure – the fastest and most imposing human construction in Portuguese territory.” This regional area is divided into thirteen sub-districts which, although each has different attributes, 9 10 11 12 9 10 11 12 are united through wine. We strongly recommend a visit to discover this Douro, to the wine producing 9 10 11 12 land villages that have known how to preserve their roots and traditions, bringing them renovated to present times, to the most emblematic places associated with its origins, to the artistic manifestations from different era that have consolidated the creative genius with roots that go back thousands of years. This is a landscape of excellence that lives in silence, sharing bonds so ancient that they make us want to stay. 13 14 15 16 13 14 15 16 13 14 15 16 Historic Centre of Guimarães The Historic Centre invites us to explore its two founding centres, the town and the castle, which were only formally unified at the end of the 14th century. The Nossa Senhora da Oliveira Monastery, founded in the 10th century, was fundamental to the development of the low town. The old Collegiate Church now houses the Alberto 17 18 19 20 19 20 Sampaio Museum, an unmissable part of any tourist itinerary, bearing in mind the building 17 18 17 18 19 20 itself and the artistic value of its collections. Nearby a maze of narrow twisting streets, alleys 11 PAÇO DOS DUQUES 17 SANTUÁRIO DA PENHA 1 MOSTEIRO DE SANTO 7 PRAÇA DA RIBEIRA 13 IGREJA, CASA AND TORRE 18 AVENIDA DOS ALIADOS 1 SÉ DE LAMEGO 7 SALZEDAS 12 SANTUÁRIO DE SÃO SALVADOR 17 CASA DE MATEUS and small squares invites us in to explore. DE BRAGANÇA Situated on top of the AGOSTINHO DA SERRA This square on the riverfront DOS CLÉRIGOS Following the design project The first Duke of Bragança Penha hill, this area is Initiated in the 13th century, In this wine land village one DO MUNDO, S. JOÃO DA Built in the first half of the DO PILAR was the centre of the city’s One of the biggest works of the Englishman Barry had this palace built in densely populated with nowadays this is a sump- can see the old medieval PESQUEIRA 18th century in the outskirts Notable for the circular commercial activity until the of 16th century Baroque Parker (1867-1947), the Ave- tuous Gothic and Baroque burgh and the Monastery Overlooking the fearsome of Vila Real, to a design The Largo da Oliveira, in front of the Medieval Monastery, and the nearby Praça de Santiago are two around 1420-1422. Its impo- notable and exotic tree form that is repeated in the 19th century. architecture, it was built nida dos Aliados is the civic sing architecture now houses species overlooking the city cathedral. In the interior, of Santa Maria de Salzedas, Cachão da Valeira, in a point attributed to Nicolau Nasoni, church and cloisters, this 41º 8’ 26’’ N 8º 36’ 46’’ W on the initiative of the centre of the city of Porto, a squares that have become central to Guimarães life.