The second stage of our Iberian adventure took us by train from Lisbon to Porto
We travelled from Lisbon Santa Apolonia to Porto Sao Bento
São
Bento Railway Station was inaugurated in 1916. Its name derives
from a Benedictine monastery built on this spot in the 16th century.
The station is well known for its tile (azulejo) panels that depict scenes
of the History of Portugal - landscapes, ethnographic
scenes as well as historical events ...
... such as Battle
of Valdevez (1140), the meeting of the knight Egas Moniz and Alfonso VII of
León (12th century), the arrival of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster in
Porto (1387) and the Conquest of Ceuta (1415). Michael Portillo visited here as part of his Great Contintental Railway Journeys series.
Porto is on the Douro river and originated and named Port Wine. It is also the birthplace of Prince
Henry the Navigator. Porto
can also claim to be the birthplace of Harry Potter; author J. K. Rowling was
living here as an English teacher when she started writing her first book.
Known
as the city of bridges, Porto built its first permanent bridge in 1806. This is Ponte
Dom Luís I - the top
deck is now for pedestrians, as well as one of the city’s metro lines; the
lower deck bears regular traffic, with narrow pedestrian walkways.
Our first impression of Porto - in glorious sunshine - was that it was very picturesque, particularly along the banks of the Douro
It is considerably smaller than Lisbon and we did not need to invest in a travel card as we could fairly easily walk to the places we wanted to see.
Wildlife along the Douro estuary
Some of the city centre sights
The
Clerics Tower, or Torre dos Clerigos was originally built between 1754 and 1763
as the bell tower of the Clerigos Church. It
was built for the Brotherhood of the Clerigos and was commissioned from
the Italian architect and painter, Nicolau Nasoni
These
curious sculptures in bronze are in memory of the liberals executed in May and
October 1829 in the Plaza Nueva (now Liberty Square) – this was during Portugal’s
Liberal Wars and followed the Porto rebellion of 1828 in particular
Statue outside the Cathedral
The Monument to the Heroes of the Peninsular War site
in Boavista district of Porto. The monument celebrates the Portuguese and British
victory against the French forces of Napoleon during the 1808-1814 Peninsula
War. There is a lion on top of the column - representing the Portuguese and
British; dominating an eagle, representing the forces of Napoleon
Porto’s Palacio de Cristal was once home to Portugal’s
version of London’s Crystal Palace. Like
the original Crystal Palace, the Porto version did not survive, although it
lasted until 1956, when it was replaced by the current construction. Today a
huge domed pavilion, the Pavilhao Rosa Mota, stands on the site, surrounded by
the leafy vegetation of the expansive gardens. The pavilion now plays host to music concerts
and sporting events with a seating capacity of 10,000
The gardens were originally designed to complement the first crystal palace by Emilio David, a renowned landscape architect.
