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Porto is Portugal's second city to Lisbon and is often referred to as the capital of the north. It is a bustling city renowned for being the business and commercial centre for Portugal. For the visitor it combines historic monuments and churches with a vibrant day and nightlife. With the Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport just 12 miles to the north serviced by the Metro that takes you right into the city centre, Porto is a great city break with historic attractions, beautiful scenery and easy access to the Douro wine region, northern coast and countryside. There are plenty of shops and combined with the port and wine tours of the area there's enough to keep most people occupied for a weekend break or longer stay.
Oporto, as it's also referred to, spreads out from the Ribeira, the old medieval town that lines the River Douro, up the hill and becomes increasingly modern as it spreads out eleven kilometres to the north and west. The old town retains its medieval feel with lots of steep, narrow, cobbled streets lined with tall brightly painted houses all topped in terracotta roof tiles. These streets all eventually wind down to the river Douro - once the main focal point for trade to the region. It is within the old town that the majority of tourist sights are located. The striking bridge Ponte de Dom Luis I connects Porto to Vila Nova de Gaia across the river. The characteristic waterfront that has been featured in many a picture of Portugal, has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is fantastic that these higgledy piggledy streets have not been lost to modern regeneration of which there has been a lot since the end of the dictatorship in 1974. Much of this was needed as Porto had become rundown, but today Porto has been carefully renovated preserving many of the medieval buildings and city layout. Porto is often famously associated with port wine having given the drink its name, but it's across the river at Vila Nova de Gaia that is actually the port centre of Portugal.
There are three tourist information centres in Porto where you can get a handy city centre street map. The two serving city based information are at:
Central district: Rua Clube dos Fenianos, 25 4000-172 Porto. Tel: 351 223 393 470 Fax: 351 223 323 303 Email: turismo.central@cm-porto.pt. Open Monday to Friday 9.00-17.30, Saturday and Sunday 9.30-16.30, and
Ribeira district: Rua do Infante D. Henrique, 63 4 050-297 Porto. Tel: 351 222 060 412/ 3 Fax: 351 222 060 414. Email: turismo.ribeira@cm-porto.pt Open Monday to Friday 9.00-17.30, Saturday and Sunday 9.30-16.30.
There is also a regional tourist information centre at Praca Dom Joao I 43, 4000-295 Porto, just east of Aliados, Tel: 351 229 412 534 Fax: 351 229 412 543. Email: ptasc@turismodeportugal.pt. Open Monday to Friday 9.00-19.30, Saturday, Sunday and holidays 9.30-15.30. This is good for information on northern Portugal
A great way to see the city on the cheap is by purchasing the Porto Card. You can buy them for one to three days. They give you free entry and discounts on entrance fees to some of the most popular tourist attractions. They are available at tourist information centres and a long list of Porto hotels. Check the website for further information.
Porto has a long history dating back to a Roman settlement, "Porto Cale" meaning sheltered port. Conveniently enough the majority of the historic sights in Porto are clustered in the old town area and are within easy walking distance of each other; although you may get weary from walking up and downhill, but there's always the trams that trundle around the city from which you can get a good view and the new metro to save your legs. Many of the sights have been restored in light of the attention Porto has received becoming European City of Culture in 2001 and particularly in the Ribeira waterfront area that has now been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site that stretches as far as the Torre dos Clergios, but the medieval feel to the older parts of the city is very much still evident.
One of the attractions well worth a first stop is the Clergios Church and Tower (Torre & Igreja dos Clerigos) on Rua dos Clergios. This is 76 metre 18th century baroque tower with church attached designed by Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni. His influence can be seen at various sights throughout historic Porto. You can climb the 225 step tower for fantastic views over the city, but watch out when the bells in the adjoining church toll. The tower is a useful landmark that can be seen wherever you are in old Porto. At the time of writing the tower was undergoing some renovation works but it is usually open 9.30am-1pm and 2-7pm April-July and September-October; 10am-1pm and 2pm-8pm in August; 10am-noon and 2-5pm November-March. Admission 1 Euro.
Across from the Tower is the former 16th century prison, Cadeia da Relacao, which now houses the Portuguese Centre for Photography (Centro Portugues de Fotografia) on the ground floor that has both permanent and temporary photographic exhibitions including work of Frederick William Flower a Scotsman who spent much of his life (1815-1889) in Porto and is considered a pioneer of Portuguese photography. Open Tues-Sat 9 am-12.30 pm and 2-5.30 pm. Admission is free.
One of the most striking examples of azulejos in Porto is that along the side of the outer wall of the Igreja do Carmo on the corner of Rua do Carmo. These traditional blue and white azulejos were painted by Silvestre Silvestri (1910-1912) to illustrate the legend of the Carmelite order of monks. The church can be visited and is open Mon-Fri 8am-noon and 2-5pm, Sat 8am-noon and Sun 7.30 am-1pm; inside are elegant gilt Rococo carvings including seven altars by Francisco Pereira Campanha. Almost immediately adjacent is the Igreja das Carmelitas open Mon-Sat 8.30-11am and 3-5 pm, Sun 5-7pm. In order to get around a law that stipulated that no two churches were to share the same wall, a house was built between the two churches see if you can spot it. At barely a metre wide it's probably the narrowest house in Portugal and was actually lived in until the 1980's!
As you make your way downhill from the tower you'll pass the attractive main square Avenida dos Aliades, a more modern part of the city which is dominated by the 1920s Camara Municipal - the town hall. The majority of the buildings lining the square are neoclassical in design and the town hall was designed later in the 1920s to fit into this style. There are a few cafes and restaurants at the lower end of the square that can be a handy stopping off point before getting down into the old Porto proper or exploring the bustling street good for shopping that lead off the square. Nearby at Praca Almeida Garrett is the train station Estacao de Sao Bento - a striking building that is worth popping into even if it's just for the entrance hall alone. This is covered on every wall with fantastic displays of azulejos - the hand-painted tiles that characterise many of Portugal's buildings. Here they depict the history of transport and the history of Portugal including the battle of Aljubarrota and the taking of Ceuta. There are reputedly 20,000 tiles in total here that were painted by Jorge Colaco.
Heading south and sitting on top of the highest hill in Porto is the Se - a typical 12th century fortress-like cathedral. From its hilltop location you can get your first views of the Ribeira and Vila Nova de Gaia. Although the cathedral was built in the 12th century much of it was rebuilt in the 17th century and altered in the 18th century. A Romanesque rose window and 14th century cloister are the earliest remnants of the cathedral; the rest is noticeably Baroque in style. The cloisters are worth the additional entrance fee with many arches covered in azulejos and the Nasoni stairway leading to the upper storey of the cloister. The murals were designed by Nasoni and are some of his earliest work from around 1725. Up at the chapterhouse lining two outside walls are a fine display of 18th century azulejos depicting various countryside scenes. The small museum here includes a 14th century image of Nossa Senhora da Vandoma. There are also various displays of religious artefacts including jewelled crowns, bishops' robes.
The cathedral complex also houses the Paco Episcopal, the medieval Archbishops Palace which is not open to the public, but is one of the most recognisable sights in Porto. The Torre Medieval is a small castellated tower that now houses Porto Tours nearby. The tower was actually discovered in the 1940s in the courtyard around the cathedral during demolition work - it was relocated and rebuilt in its present location in the 1950s. Porto Tours is a local government run booking agency with information on all recommended tour operators for different trips and tours around Porto, whether it be by foot, bus, boat, taxi or even helicopter - saves you having to traipse around all the different tour providers yourself. As you clamber down the narrow streets from the cathedral you enter the Ribeira district.
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