Vila Nova de Gaia (; cel-x-proto, Cale), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. It is located south of the city of

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper had a population of 178,255 in 2001. The municipality has an area of 168.46 km². and a total population of 302,295 inhabitants (2011), making it the most populous municipality in Norte Region. Gaia along with Porto and 12 other municipalities make up the commonly designated

Porto Metropolitan Area The Porto Metropolitan Area ( pt, Área Metropolitana do Porto; abbreviated as AMP) is a metropolitan area in northern Portugal centered on the City of Porto, Portugal's second largest city.Fernanda Paula Oliveira (2009), The metropolitan area, ...

. The city contains many cellars (locally known as "caves") where port wine is stored and aged. These cellars have become a major tourist attraction.

History

Vila Nova de Gaia already existed under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

as the city of Cale. It developed most likely from a preexistent

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic Castro, or Neolithic settlement. The origin of the name Cale (or Gale, since in Classical

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

there was not always a clear distinction between the letters "g" and "c") is likely

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

, from the root "Gall-" with which Celts referred to themselves, similarly to

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

. The river itself has a Celtic name, Douro (Latinised Durus) after Celtic "dwr", deep water, water or river. In Roman times the bulk of the population probably lived south of the river Douro, and on the north side, there was a smaller settlement around the deep water port which now is the Ribeira neighbourhood of

. The name of Porto, in high medieval times Portus Cale, thus stood for the harbour ("portus" in Latin) of the city of Cale. With the important trade of the river Douro, which is easily navigable up to the Régua deep inland, the Porto part of the city came to overgrow Cale, and became the most important part of town, where the Bishopric and the merchants were established. With the Moorish invasions in the eighth century, the ''de facto'' frontier between the Islamic state and the Christian one came to rest for a considerable period of time on the river Douro. With the constant raids and counter-raids, the town of Cale, or Gaia, was deserted and most of its inhabitants took refuge in Porto in the North side of the river. It is in this period, the tenth century, that the late medieval '' Lenda de Gaia'' (Legend of Gaia) is set. After the conquest and pacification of the southern side of the Douro river after 1035, with the exodus or expulsion of the Muslim populations, leaving behind semi-abandoned fertile lands, colonists from the north settled in exchange for better

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

contracts with the newly appointed lords. These migrants refounded the old city of Cale or Gaia under the name of Vila Nova de Gaia (new town of Gaia) around the old

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and ruins of "old Gaia". The name of the double city of Porto and Gaia was frequently referred to in contemporary documents as "villa de Portucale", and the county of the

Kingdom of León The Kingdom of León; es, Reino de León; gl, Reino de León; pt, Reino de Leão; la, Regnum Legionense; mwl, Reino de Lhion was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when t ...

which was centered on it was named Condado Portucalense. This county was eventually expanded and after gaining its independence, became the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kn ...

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 15 civil parishes (''

freguesias ''Freguesia'' (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Port ...

''): The parish Santa Marinha e São Pedro da Afurada contains the city centre of Vila Nova de Gaia.

Coat of arms and flag

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

consists of a grey crest with two golden-yellow bunches of grapes on the bottom with a black

over the water, and with a person blowing the horn. The grapes intend to represent the city's connection with the wine industry, mainly Port wine, whose cellars are in the lower part of the city. The flag features the coat of arms on a field of eight wedges ( gyronny) of alternating dark yellow and black, beginning with the north-northeast octant.

Leisure

Beaches

Vila Nova de Gaia is the Portuguese municipality with the highest number of

Blue Flag beach The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a not-for-profit non-go ...

es in 2009 and in 2010: 17 beaches along 17 km of seaside. Some popular beaches are: Miramar, Granja, Aguda, Valadares, Francelos, Madalena and Canidelo. Praia da Granja is a FEE Blue Flag beach in the parish of São Félix da Marinha. This area was a farm in the 18th century belong to the Grijó Monastery and used as a rest place of monks and priests.

Parks and gardens

* Gaia Biological Park () is the largest park in the city, with an area of 35 hectares. The Park established in 1983 as an environmental education center, features a 3 km walkway along with hundreds of species of animals and plants. * Opened in August 2005, the Lavandeira Park () is a place for leisure activities with a lake, pedestrian walks, picnic areas and theme gardens. It has an area of 11 hectares located in Oliveira do Douro. * Jardim do Morro ("Garden of the Hill") is a garden located in the parish of Santa Marinha, near the Sera do Pilar Monastery. It was established in 1927. There is a lake, a number of plant species including

Tilia ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...

s. * The Littoral Station of Aguda () is a show

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

opened in 1999 on the beach of Aguda () in Arcozelo. The building designed by the architect João Paulo Peixoto includes 3 main sections: Fisheries Museum displaying fishery equipment; Aquarius demonstrating local aquatic fauna and flora, and the Department of Environmental Education and Scientific Research on marine ecology, fishery and aquaculture. * Local Nature Reserve of the Douro Estuary () is a small nature reserve established in 2007 with the aim of the protection of birds and landscape. There can be seen

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

s, white

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same buil ...

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

plover Plovers ( , ) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. Description There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel". The closely related lapwing subf ...

s, red knots, various species of

seagulls Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, ...

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

s among many other birds throughout a year. São Paio Bay is a popular spot for bird watchers. There are also Dunes Park (), Botanical Park of Castelo (), Camelias Garden (), Streams of Gaia (), Maria Pia Bridge Park () in Vila Nova de Gaia. File:Parque Biologico de Gaia 02.JPG, Gaia Biological Park File:Jardim do Morro, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, 2012-05-09, DD 01.JPG, Jardim do Morro File:Reserva Natural da Foz do Douro.jpg, Nature Reserve of the Douro Estuary File:Praia Granja (Vila Nova de Gaia).jpg, Granja beach

Tourism

The city attracts a great number of tourists for its different points of interest and the wine cellars are considered to be a must-see in any trip to area of Porto.

Museums

House-Museum Teixeira Lopes, Diogo de Macedo Gallery () is a cultural center consisting of the house of the sculptor

António Teixeira Lopes António Teixeira Lopes (27 October 1866–21 June 1942) was a Portuguese sculptor. Life Teixeira Lopes was the son of sculptor José Joaquim Teixeira Lopes and started learning his art in his father's workshop. In 1882 he entered the Academ ...

and recently built Diogo de Macedo Galleries located in Vila Nova de Gaia. The building of the museum was constructed in 1895 by

and his brother José Teixeira Lopes as a residence and an atelier. The Master donated this property to the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia, and it was opened to the public as a house-museum in 1933. Diogo de Macedo Gallery was established in 1975 in a building annexed to Teixeira Lopes' atelier. The Art Galleries in the House-museum demonstrates works of Portuguese painters and sculptors, as well as pieces of pottery factories of Gaia, while Diogo de Macedo Galleries display the sculptural works of

Diogo de Macedo Diogo de Macedo (Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, 22 November 1889 – Lisbon, Portugal, 19 February 1959) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese painter, sculptor, and writer. Sculpture

Sculpted, among others, the busts of: *Antero de Quental ( ...

and his art collection consisting of decorative art examples from 16th-20th centuries. Solar dos Condes de Resende is a former manorial property which is now the headquarter of the Municipal House of Culture located in the village of Negrelos. Its construction dates back to the

Medieval Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. In the 16th century, the property belonged to Tomé da Costa, a nobleman from Vila Nova de Gaia who served for the Kingdom during the period of the Philippine dynasty. The building was also known as Quinta da Costa. The building has a semi-public chapel dedicated to São Tomé, a baroque garden with

camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controve ...

s and a large tank of stonework that receives water from the source of São Mamede in Serra de Canelas. There is also a statue dedicated to the writer Eça de Queiroz who fell in love with the daughter of the owner (4th Count of Resende) and married her (Emília de Castro Pamplona). After the City Council of Gaia purchased the property in 1984, it has been operating as Municipal House of Culture. There is a Documentation Center for History, Archaeology, Art and Anthropology, as well as a museum site with Azuaga Marciano Collection.

Gallery

Image:Apartment buildings of Mafamude, Vila Nova de Gaia.jpg, Apartment buildings in the parish of Mafamude Image:Senhordapedra.jpg, Beach in Miramar Image:El Corte Ingles 2 (Gaia).JPG, Metro next to El Corte Inglés Image:Largo Soares dos Reis 5 (VN Gaia).JPG, Soares dos Reis Square Image:Igreja da Serra do Pilar - V. Noda de Gaia.jpg, Gaia at night Image:The_road_to_the_bridge_(7879109362).jpg, Gaia Image:Largo Soares dos Reis 2 (VN Gaia).JPG, Vila Nova de Gaia Image:Tower Plaza Regino Cruz2.jpg, Tower Plaza Regino, Gaia Image:Oporto-night.jpg, Vila Nova de Gaia Image:Vila Nova de Gaia house.jpg, Downtown Gaia Image:Vila Nova de Gaia from Ponte Luís I (3).JPG, Vila Nova de Gaia Image:Monte da Virgem, 2011.12.03.jpg, Vila Nova de Gaia TV Tower File:Estação Litoral da Aguda fachada.jpg, Littoral Station of Aguda Image:Ribeira - Entardecer.jpg, Vila Nova de Gaia Image:ISS-32 Nighttime image of Portugal featuring Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia.jpg, Porto Urban Area Image:Monte do Castelo (área do Castelo de Gaia).jpg, Vila Nova de Gaia Image:Rua Marques Sa Bandeira (VN Gaia).JPG, Gaia

Sister City

Vila Nova de Gaia is twinned with:

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the co ...

, United States of America Dunavarsány, Hungary

Notable people

Maria Isabel Wittenhall van Zeller Maria Isabel Wittenhall van Zeller (1749–1819) was a pioneer in the use of vaccination against smallpox in Portugal. She became notable for promoting the use of smallpox vaccination at the beginning of the 19th century, particularly in the P ...

(1749–1819) a pioneer in the use of vaccination against

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

. *

António Soares dos Reis António Manuel Soares dos Reis (Vila Nova de Gaia, 14 October 1847 - Vila Nova de Gaia, 16 February 1889) was a Portuguese sculptor. Studies He first studied at the Portuense Academy of Fine Arts, where he graduated in sculpture in 1867. He st ...

(1847-1889) a Portuguese sculptor. *

(1866–1942) a Portuguese sculptor. *

Daniel Pina Cabral Daniel Pereira dos Santos de Pina Cabral (Vila Nova de Gaia, 27 January 1924 – Porto, 23 June 2008) was a Portuguese Anglican bishop. He was the ninth Bishop of Lebombo, Mozambique, from 1968 to 1976.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 197 ...

(1924–2008) an Anglican bishop, Bishop of Lebombo, Mozambique, 1968 to 1976 *

António Pires Veloso António Elísio Capelo Pires Veloso (10 August 1926 – 17 August 2014) was a general in the Portuguese Army. He was known as the ''Vice-Rei do Norte'' (Viceroy of the North) for his role in quashing the Coup of 25 November 1975. He was also the ...

(1926–2014) an Army General, overseas Governor & political candidate *

António Reis António Ferreira Gonçalves dos Reis, known as António Reis (27 August 1927 – 10 September 1991), was a Portuguese film director, screenwriter and producer, poet, sculptor and ethnographer. He was married to Margarida Cordeiro, co-director o ...

(1927–1991) a film director, screenwriter and producer, poet, sculptor and ethnographer. * Maria Alberta Menéres (1930–2019) a Portuguese author, children's writer, journalist and poet. *

Bruce Duncan Guimaraens Bruce Duncan Guimaraens (27 October 1935 – 22 August 2002) was a Portuguese-British port wine maker. Early life and education Guimaraens was born on 27 October, 1935 to parents Charles Bruce and Cathleen May in Vila Nova de Gaia. He was educate ...

(1935–2002) a Portuguese-British port wine maker. * António Pinho Vargas (born 1951) a jazz and contemporary music composer and pianist * Paulo Rangel (born 1968) a Portuguese jurist, politician and MEP since 2009. * Dalila Carmo (born 1974) a Portuguese actress. Dalila Carmo, IMDb Database
* Sónia Rocha (born ca.1975) a cell biologist and academic at

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

Sport

* João Pinto (born 1961) a retired footballer with 408 club caps and 70 for

. * José Tavares (born 1966) a retired footballer with 294 club caps and 8 for

. * Vítor Baía (born 1969) a retired football goalkeeper with 447 club caps and 80 for

. * Basílio Almeida (born 1971) a footballer with 499 club caps * António Folha (born 1971) a footballer with 337 club caps and 26 for

& current manager. *

Rui Jorge Rui Jorge de Sousa Dias Macedo de Oliveira (born 27 March 1973), known as Rui Jorge, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a left-back, currently manager of the Portugal national under-21 team. In a 15-year professional career he ...

(born 1973) a retired footballer with 324 club caps and 45 for

. * Fernando Jorge Tavares de Oliveira (born 1975), known as ''Bock,'' a retired footballer with 635 club caps * Artur Soares Dias (born 1979) a football referee with FIFA & UEFA since 2010. * Ricardo Costa (born 1981) a footballer with 458 club caps and 22 for

. * Lenine Cunha (born 1982) a Paralympic athlete, competed in the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

* Luís Monteiro (born 1983) a former free-style swimmer, competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

* Bruno Vale (born 1983) a retired football goalkeeper with 476 club caps and one for

. *

Vanessa Fernandes Vanessa de Sousa Fernandes (; born 14 September 1985) is a Portuguese athlete who is a former triathlon European and world champion, and an Olympic medalist. In duathlon, she was also European and world champion. Fernandes won the European ...

(born 1985) a triathlete and silver medallist at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

André Gomes André Filipe Tavares Gomes (; born 30 July 1993) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lille, on loan from club Everton. He played three years at Benfica, where he won the domestic tre ...

(born 1993) with over 200 club caps and 29 for

. *

Ivo Oliveira Ivo Emanuel Alves Oliveira (born 5 September 1996) is a Portuguese Bicycle racing, racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He competed in the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's points race, points race at the 20 ...

Rui Oliveira Rui Filipe Alves Oliveira (born 5 September 1996) is a Portuguese cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He competed in the scratch event at the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championsh ...

(twins, born 1996) Portuguese racing cyclists

References

External links

Photos from Vila Nova de Gaia

Gaia Extra - Local news site about Vila Nova de Gaia

Gaia The Magic City - Local Social Network
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vila Nova De Gaia Municipalities of Porto District Cities in Portugal