Porto - Ponte Dom Luís I

Porto is with a population of about 250.000 the largest city in Northern Portugal. In "Greater Porto", the metropolitan area, live even more than 1.7 million people.

The historical center of Porto was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Port wine is named after Porto, since the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia on the southern banks of the river Douro are the centers for packaging, transport and export of the fortified wine. Some years ago I had been here for a couple of days before I started the "Camino Portugues" here.

The Ponte Dom Luís I is the second oldest bridge in Porto. Older is only the Ponte Maria Pia (a technical cousin of the "Viaduc de Garabit"), constructed by Gustave Eiffel and Théophile Seyrig in 1875/1877. The team split and 1881/1886 Mr. Seyrig built the Ponte Dom Luís I, seen here. With a span of 172m. it was the the longest bridge of this type worldwide. On the lower deck are cars, the upper deck is for pedestrians and the Metro Line D. Seen in the backdrop are the cathedral´s towers.