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Published: December 9th 2022
Igreja dos Congregados
View of Porto with the Azuleo-tiled Igreja de Santo Antonio dos Congregados (1680) and the Torre dos Clérigos (1755-1763).
DSC_0582Thursday morning was set for Porto sightseeing. The Viking tour bus drove us across the Ponte Infanta Dom Henrique from Gaia to Porto proper. Multiple bridges across the Douro connect Porto and Gaia. To the right was the iron Ponte D. Maria Pia, built by Eiffel in 1876-1877, now out of service. To the left was Ponte Luis I, built in 1881-1885. It has always been a tram bridge.
The first stop was Porto Cathedral (
Sé do Porto). Porto is a very hilly city, built on basalt cliffs rising directly up from the river. The cathedral was built on one of the hilltops. Begun in the 12th century, the cathedral is fundamentally Romanesque in design, but it has undergone several retouchings. The two Romanesque towers and rose window surround a Baroque portal addd in 1772. Inside, the Romanesque columns and nave lead to a chancel (
Capela-mor) rebuilt in the 16th century and a high altar of 1729 in Portuguese Baroque style. To the left of the chancel is the 17th century Capela do Santíssimo Sacramento with a silver altarpiece. It is known as the "silver chapel". The Gothic Cloister adjoining the cathedral is decorated in blue Azuleo tiles created in
Porto
Porto from Ponte Infante Dom Henrique. 1729-1731. The scenes depict the life of Mary. Outside, the terrace affords a view over central Porto.
From the cathedral, the group walked downhill along Avenida Dom Afonso Henriques to São Bento Station. Along the way, two young women were filming people coming up from the São Bento metro station. (I wondered of they were doing a class project. It reminded me of a similar scene at the Washington Metro.) São Bento Railway Station is known for its fabulous Azuleo panels decorating the head house of the station. Panels on the right and left walls depict scenes from Portuguese history, including John I and Philippa of Lancaster arriving in Porto and Prince Henry the Navigator at Ceuta. Panels over the entry to the train shed depict the religious festivals of the procession of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios in Lamego and the pilgrimage of São Trocato to Guimarães. Above the Azuleo panels is a polychome tile cornice depicting the evolution of transport in Portugal. The tiles were installed in 1905-1916. Visitors to the station to see the tilework vie for space with passengers!
Returning to the coach, we had a driving tour of central Porto. Remains of the Medieval
Ponte Dona Maria Pia
Ponte Dona Maria Pia railway bridge built in 1877. Designed by Gustave Eiffel.
".. the Ponte de Maria Pia, a fine bridge constructed by Messrs. Eiffel & Co. of Paris in 1876-77 and named after Queen Maria Pia. It crosses the ravine in a single span of 52 ft.; its total length is 1155 ft., its height 200 ft."--Baedeker 1913.
DSC_0569p1 walls and towers line up below the cathedral hill. The city hall faces Praça do Município and the new (2005) Casa da Música concert hall is across town. From here, the coach headed to the seaside.
We stopped to inspect the coastal Forte de São Francisco Xavier, also known the the Castelo do Queijo (Cheese Castle). It was built in the 17th century over previous fortifications. It's an attractive stone fort, looking like a proper Iberian fortification complete with four guaritas (bartizans) on the corners. However, I gathered that it was never a very effective fortification and was replaced by other forts nearer the mouth of the Douro. (The name Cheese Fort comes from the round rock on which it sits, resembling a wheel of cheese.)
Everyone was surprised by how wild the Atlantic was along this coast. Large waves put on a show from the fort down to the breakwater and mouth of the Douro. The surf was up! The city tour over, the coach returned us back across the Douro to Villa Nova de Gaia and
Viking Torgil.
After lunch aboard Susan and I took a walk along the Gaia riverfront promenade. Villa Nova de
Sé do Porto
Sé do Porto - Porto Cathedral.
"The Sé, which stands on the apex of the E. hill, on the site of the old castle of the Suevi, was originally a Romanesque building of the 12th cent., afterwards rebuilt in the Gothic style, and lastly almost wholly modernized in the 17-18th centuries. The exterior is, however, still imposing, mainly on account of the iron-grey granite of which it is entirely composed".--Baedeker 1913.
DSC_0603p1 Gaia has long ben the entrepôt for wines from the Douro Valley. Traditional
barcos rabellos, the wine vessels unique to the region, are lined up along the promenade and used as advertising platforms. Sandeman, Cockburn, Offley, Taylor and other companies have their rabellos on display. Riverside Gaia is lined with restaurants and wine cellars, shops and tasting rooms. Aside from a church (with an Azuleo façade), there are no other businesses here. (A former bookstore was closed and empty.) A ferry takes passengers across the Douro to Porto and several river cruise companies have their docks. An aerial tramway ascends from the promenade up to the 16th century Mosterio Serra do Pilar on a hill overlooking the river. I think that would have been interesting to do, but the rainy afternoon weather was not cooperating. We stopped in at the pink Mercado Berio-Rio, the Gaia public market. It was probably once a public market similar to the one in Salamanca, but has only a few traditional food stalls today. Most of the market has been given over to restaurants in a food court like setting. Steady rain was now coming down, so Susan and I returned to the ship to
Nave
Sé do Porto - Porto Cathedral. Romanesque nave.
IMG_8490 pack. There was no evening entertainment as passengers were preparing to disembark the following morning. Most were headed home, but Susan and I were booked on the extension tour to Santiago de Compostela.
The historic district of Porto, the Luis I bridge and the Gaia monastery are part of the Historic Centre of Porto UNESCO World heritage site.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
A beautiful photo!
You've really captured some great angles.