Oporto Golf Holidays
The city of Oporto, built along the hillsides overlooking the mouth of the Douro river, is an outstanding urban landscape with a 1,000-year history. It was the Romans that gave it the name Portus, or port and Oporto that gave Portugal its name.
This gracious capital of the north is Portugal's second largest city and a thriving industrial hub, successfully blending commercial efficiency with an atmosphere of unpretentious charm. Oporto has many memorable buildings, including the hospital of Santo Antonio, built in the late 18th century by John Carr of York and the many churches and palaces by Nicolas Nazzoni, who in 1748 designed the elegant Torre dos Clerigos, which dominates and affords spectacular views of the city. Azulejos, the glazed pictorial tiles for which Portugal is famous, adorn whole facades of both churches and houses. Ancient churches and narrow streets add to its unique character.
Rich from centuries of trade, modern Oporto is as much a cosmopolitan centre as it is a city steeped in the historical events of the past. Porto was selected the 2001 European Capital of Culture which bestows upon the city money for lots of cultural improvements.Its continuous growth can be seen in the many and varied monuments, from the cathedral with its Romanesque choir, to the neoclassical Stock Exchange and the typically Portuguese Manueline-style Church of Santa Clara.
"Rich from centuries of trade, modern Oporto is as much a cosmopolitan centre as it is a city steeped in the historical events of the past"
Oporto is a the ideal jumping off point for a number of journeys: north, up to Viana do Castelo, the Minho region and even Galicia beyond; north-east to Braga or further to Trás-os-Montes; south, along the Costa de Prata, east, up the gorgeous Douro valley.
Although Oporto continues to develop, in the Douro Valley home to Port wine, time has almost stood still. You will not find the latest wine making techniques and fancy equipment. Instead, you will find a wine industry much the way it was over a hundred years ago. Yet, in spite of it, or because of it, vintage Port is one of the world's greatest wines.
The finest Port is produced from grapes grown on the steep and rocky slopes of the Upper Douro and its tributaries. A fortified wine, the pionners of the Port trade soon found the fortifying process did far more than just protect the wine. It improved it, giving it the power to mature into something unique, tranforming in the cool, peaceful lodges at Vila Nova de Gaia, across the Douro from Porto (Oporto), into the opulent and complex wine that we know today as Port.
The port wine lodges of Oporto can be reached by the lower level of the great bridge of Dom Luiz, one of the three remarkable bridges that span the Gorge of the Douro.
Don’t, however, limit yourself to the Old Town. Visit at least one of Oporto’s delightful parks: the Palácio de Cristal (Rua Dom Manuel II), with its stunning river views; the art deco gardens of the Fundação Serralves, home to the modernist Museu de Arte Contemporânea; or the extensive Parque da Cidade on the way to Foz.
For more information about Oporto visit "Oporto tourist information web site"
Oporto Golf Holidays