The lodge letters
The centuries' names giant on the slopes.
CC BY-SA 4.0 · Krzysztof Golik — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 3.0
The Douro valley's fortified wine, born of the English alliance: France's wars cutting claret from the English (17th century), they developed Douro wine fortified to survive the sea, building their lodges in Gaia to age it near the mouth — the name now Europe-protected under the city's, and the hillside letters the trading families' centuries-old names.
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Gaia is Porto's other half, the one that made its name: along its southern bank file the historic wine lodges under giant letters — centuries of port barrels ageing in the dark opposite Ribeira, the barrel-bearing rabelo boats moored in show. Its riverside is today the livelier of the two banks: promenade, food carts, musicians, a tethered balloon, and a cable car lifting you from quay to the upper bridge's head — the bank's crown the round Serra do Pilar monastery (World Heritage) on its cliff: its platform the decisive panorama — all Porto, bridge and tiles as one canvas, its sunset the north's most famous. And for the non-drinker the bank is rich in itself: promenade, cable car, platform and restaurants make a full day without one cellar — lower bridge out, upper bridge back being its proper circuit.
The centuries' names giant on the slopes.
Quay to the upper bridge head.
The circular Heritage on its cliff.
Vila Nova de Gaia