PT22 Visit to Porto

We visited Porto, whose historic centre is a Unesco World Heritage Site. Built on steep banks at the mouth of the Douro River, Porto is composed of a high part, a sort of undulating plateau with mounds topped with churches, and then the city suddenly slides down the cobbled streets to the Douro River. 

The day began with a guided cruise on the Douro. This cruise gave us a first glimpse of the two banks of the river with on one side the Villa nova de Gaïa where the port wine cellars are grouped and on the other the old port and the Ribeira district. These two banks are raised by numerous bridges such as the “Luis I” and the Arrabida Bridge. The “Luis I” Bridge was a project oh the engineer Teófilo Seyrig and it was inaugurated on 31st October 1886. This bridge is built of two metal trays supported by a great iron arch and five piers with maximum span of around 391.25m. The Arrabida Bridge is the first single-arch concrete bridge in Europe built between 1957 and 1963. 

The visit continued with the discovery of this district, with its dapper houses and welcoming cafés. The students strolled quietly towards the upper town, until they reached the São Bento train station. The train station of St Bento was built at the beginning of the XXth century and based on a plan designed by the architect Marques da Silva. In 1916 the large hall was totally faced with tiled panels by the painter Jorge Colaço. The depict the history of transport, ethnographical aspects and famous events in Portuguese history. We continued our stroll through the sloping cobbled streets of another age, lined with buildings with azuleijos-covered facades. The visit was enhanced by musical interludes. The day ended with a stop on the beach where the students enjoyed the view of the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean.

The students acquired more historical and cultural knowledge about the history of Braga. They will be able to reinvest the vocabulary learned and the historical approach used.