We spent all of today in Porto. We took a walking tour and then explored more ourselves.

Porto is in the north of Portugal and is situated on the north bank of the Douro River. It is the 2nd largest metropolitan area in Portugal. Like Lisbon, Porto had indigenous people, was occupied by the Romans and later the Moors. Later was re-Christianized before returning to the Moors and again to the Christians. In the 14th century it was an important port and Prince Henry  the Navigator was born here. By  the 17th century it was important for the export of port wine (named after the city/region) to the other areas of Europe.

We went to Porto Cathedral which was built from 1110-1737. Because of this long construction timeframe it has Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque aspects.

Porto Cathedral

In 1387 John I of Portugal and Phillippa of Lancaster (daughter of John of Gaunt) got married here. This established the oldest record military alliance known as the Treaty of Windsor. Portugal and England have remained allies since.

An unusual depiction of Mary pregnant with Jesus.

Stone pillory outside of the cathedral. Historically these were used for public punishment. This one is modern and was built during the 20th century. 

We also visited the São Bento Railway Station, not to travel, but because of the inside. This station was built in the early 20th century and is decorated with large panels of handpainted tiles. 

The lower tile panels that are blue and white show Portuguese historical and cultural events. The upper panels in color depict the history of transportation up to rail transport.

Close up of one of the panels.

View over Porto

Church of the Clergymen. We were unable to go inside. This is an 18th century Baroque church.

We walked back across the Douro to get to Gaia, the town on the other side of the river where our ship is ported.

View of Porto from Gaia. There are traditional boats called rabelo. These were used to transport goods and people on the Douro and are flat bottomed to accommodate the shallow waters.

We took a cable car to get down to the the river level.

It gave us a good view of a local mural. It is made up of trash, so I dubbed it the trash rabbit.

Porto is lovely and we had a nice time here.