About Porto

Porto, where you want to be!

Welcome to Porto! This is a city that will enchant you due to its historical richness, unique culture, warm people and really tasty local cuisine. And what a fascinating past it has. Historic references to the city go back to Roman times. Porto is also oftentimes called “Cidade Invicta” (UnvanquishedCity) after its resistance to the Napoleonic Imperial army as well as the capital of the North. If you care to find out more about its history, where better to start than in the centre, dropping down to the beautiful river Douroand its splendid bridges?

Porto has a wealth of museums, concert halls, theatres, art galleries, libraries and lovely old world book shops. The best known museums are the Soares dos ReisNationalMuseum, dedicated to the Portuguese artistic movements of the 16^th to 20^thcentury, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Serralves Foundation, which has gorgeous grounds to walk around and is a great place for a visit on Sunday morning. Entrance is free and the buffet lunch is a treat.

The city has concert halls of rare beauty and elegance such as the Coliseu do Porto seen by many as one of the most elegant concert halls in Europeand there are also the famous Rivoli theatre and Batalha cinema. Of course, the building in Porto which is now an icon in the identity of the city is the sensational Casa da Musica, a vision of genius from the Dutch architect Rem Kolhaas,an absolute must to visit.

Porto is also the home of many traditional Portuguese dishes such as “Tripas a Moda do Porto (great if you are a fan of boiled tripe), “Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá (salted codfish with sort of scrambled eggs and fried potato – delicious!) and the dish that all visitors to Porto love: “Francesinhas”, which is a kind of sandwich with several meats inside, toasted and covered with cheese and then the most mouth watering savoury sauce one part of which is beer! Sometimes it is laced with other spirits! Served with chips this is definitely the most popular native snack food in Porto. And how can one not mention what has made Porto famous all over the world? Of course, it is the home of Port Wine, whose vintages grace the tables of wine lovers all over the world for those special occasions. A trip to one of the many Port Wine Lodges on the South bank of the river in Vila Nova de Gaia is one of the most popular tourist experiences. Perhaps that is because you get to taste the port wines!

Porto´s historic centre, the Ribeira, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is not difficult to understand why. It is delightful and boasts one of the most beautiful iron bridges in the world, the “D. Luís I”,designed by the famous engineer Eiffel. There are many architectural delights to discover in the city: the Cathedral, the small Romanesque Church of Cedofeita, the Gothic church of St Francis, not forgetting the lovely antique pictorial tiling that decorates the walls of many public buildings, especially the São Bento railway station.

Porto – proudly the home of what many citizens believe to be the greatest football team in Portugal if not the world: FC Clube do Porto. That is open to debate but what isn´t is that people from Porto are friendly, kind and generous in their welcome to visitors.

(Adriana and colleagues)