1875 Reclus print PORTO (OPORTO), PORTUGAL, #68

Description: Reclus01_68 1875 Reclus print PORTO (OPORTO), PORTUGAL, #68 Nice print titled Porto, from wood engraving with fine detail and clear impression, approx. page size is 27 x 18 cm, approx. image size is 19 x 13 cm. From La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, 19 vol., 1875-94 (In English: The Earth and Its Inhabitants, 1878-94), great work of Elisee Reclus. Porto, also called OPORTO, capital and port, Porto district, northern Portugal. The city lies along the Douro River, 2 miles (3 km) from the river's mouth and 175 miles (280 km) north of Lisbon. World famous for its port wine, Porto is Portugal's second largest city and is the commercial and industrial centre for the zone north of the Mondego River. The city lies chiefly on the Douro River's north bank, with the older district on a hill to the east. The red-tiled warehouses of the town of Vila Nova de Gaia, where vast quantities of port wine are blended and stored, are on the south bank; other suburbs include Matosinhos, Leça da Palmeira, and Aguas Santas to the north and Gondomar and Oliveira do Douro to the southeast. The Douro River is spanned by the Dom Luís I Bridge (591 feet [180 m]), built in 1881-85 by the French engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, with one of the largest arches in Europe; by the Maria Pia Bridge (1876-77), carrying the Lisbon railway line; and by the Arrábida Highway Bridge (885 feet [270 m]), which had the world's longest arch when it was completed in 1962. Porto was the Portus Cale of Roman times and was earlier a flourishing settlement on the Douro's south bank; the nomadic Alani tribe later founded the city of Castrum Novum on the north bank. The Visigoths took possession of the site in about 540 but yielded in 716 to the Moors. In 997 the Christians recaptured Porto, which for a time became the capital of the counts of Portucalense during Moorish rule in southern Portugal. The Moors again held the city briefly, but in 1092 it was brought finally under Christian domination. In the 14th century the city became an important port, and Henry the Navigator was born there in 1394. During the Peninsular War, British forces under the Duke of Wellington there crossed the Douro, routed the French, and captured the city on May 12, 1809. Porto's cathedral, on the site of the Visigothic citadel, was originally a 12th-century Romanesque building with 14th-century Gothic cloisters, but it was largely rebuilt in the 17th-18th centuries. The Romanesque and early Gothic Church of Sao Martinho de Cedofeita, notable for the curiously carved capitals of its pillars, occupies the site of a church said to have been built by Theodomir, king of the Visigoths, in 559 to receive St. Martin of Tours's relics from France. Also notable are the Torre dos Clérigos, an 18th-century granite tower, 246 feet (75 m) high; and the Gothic Basilica of Sao Francisco (from 1410). An episcopal see, Porto has a university (founded 1911), district archives, museums including the Soares do Reis National Museum (prehistoric and Roman artifacts, sculpture, paintings, and numismatics), an opera house, a fine-arts school, a symphony orchestra, and several scientific institutes. The Crystal Palace, a large glass and iron structure, was built for the industrial exhibition of 1865. Modern public buildings include the county hall, university hospital, and football stadium. Porto is chiefly famous for the export of the wine named for it, possibly the world's most popular dessert wine, with a rich, sweet flavour. It is fortified with brandy while fermenting, then aged. The trade in port was begun in 1678 and was firmly established under the terms of the Methuen Treaty (1703) between England and Portugal. An act of 1906 defined port as a wine produced in the Douro district and exported from Porto and with an alcoholic strength of more than 16.5 percent. About a third of the population is engaged in manufacturing, and fisheries are also important. Just northwest of Porto, on the Atlantic coast in Matosinhos, is the deepwater artificial Porto de Leixoes. Porto is also famous for its sea-bathing facilities. The population density of Porto is only slightly less than that of Lisbon, and overcrowding is common. Large-scale planning and development since World War II, including a number of housing projects, have improved conditions. The coastal railroad, running beside the coastal expressway, is electrified between Porto and Lisbon. A highway and railroad also extend east to Bragança. The Crestuma hydroelectric project on the Douro River is located about 19 miles (30 km) from Porto. The city has a domestic airport. Porto district, lying between the Douro and Ave rivers, has an area of 925 square miles (2,395 square km). It comprises a narrow coastal plain stretching from the Ave Valley to south of the Douro River, an inland undulating plateau, and an eastern mountainous section traversed by northwest-southeast valleys, notably that of the Tâmega River. The mild, moist climate and generally fertile soils have encouraged an intensive use of land. Mixed farming, including winter and summer cereals, vegetables, and tree crops (cork oak and olive), permits large peasant families to live on small holdings fragmented into tiny parcels, some less than an acre in size. Timber and its associated resin industry is, with the production of vinho verde (an acidic, slightly effervescent wine), often the only source of a cash income for the peasants in the remoter valleys. Pop. (1986 est.) city and coterminous concelho (municipality), 344,500; district, 1,644,400.

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End Time: 2024-11-30T17:36:03.000Z

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