Porto (), also known in
English as Oporto, is the
second largest city in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, after
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
. It is the capital of the
Porto District
The Districts of Portugal, District of Porto ( ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro (district), Aveiro and Viseu (distric ...
and one of the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire
municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropolitan area, with an estimated population of just 248,769 people in a municipality with only .
Porto's urban area has around 1,319,151 people
(2025) in an area of ,
[Demographia: World Urban Areas]
, March 2010 making it the second-largest urban area in Portugal. It is recognized as a
global city with a Gamma + rating from the
Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
Located along the
Douro
The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish Soria Province, province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern par ...
River estuary in northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centers and its core was proclaimed a
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
by UNESCO in 1996, as the "Historic Centre of Porto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar". The historic area is also a National Monument of Portugal.
The western part of its urban area extends to the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. Its settlement dates back to the 2nd century BC when it was an outpost of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
. Its combined
Celtic-
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
name,
Portus Cale,
has been referred to as the origin of the name ''Portugal'', based on
transliteration and oral evolution from Latin.
Port wine
Port wine (, ; ), or simply port, is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often served with dessert wine, ...
, one of Portugal's most famous exports, is named after Porto, since the metropolitan area, and in particular the
cellars of
Vila Nova de Gaia, were responsible for the packaging, transport, and export of
fortified wine.
[Robinson, Jancis, ed. (2006). ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'' (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860990-6. OCLC 70699042.] Porto is on
the Portuguese Way path of the
Camino de Santiago. In 2014 and 2017, Porto was elected ''The Best European Destination'' by the Best European Destinations Agency.
In 2023, Porto was named ''City of the Year'' by ''Food and Travel'' magazine. In 2024, the city was awarded ''World’s Leading Seaside Metropolitan Destination'' at the World Travel Awards.
History
Early history
Before the Roman conquest, the
Gallaeci, a
Celtic people, inhabited the area. Ruins of that period have been discovered in several areas. Archaeological findings reveal that there were also human settlements at the mouth of the
Douro River as early as the 8th century BC, which hints at a
Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
n trading settlement there.
Under the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, Porto developed as an important commercial port, primarily in the trade between ''Olissipona'' (the modern
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
) and ''Bracara Augusta'' (the modern
Braga).
Porto was also important during the
Suebian and
Visigothic
The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...
times as a center for the expansion of Christianity during that period.

Porto fell under Muslim rule between 714 to 716, following the
Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom.
Porto was reconquered by the Christians under
Alfonso I of
Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
in 741, and thus Porto became a Christian border settlement.
Vímara Peres, a Galician
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
from
Gallaecia, and a vassal of the King of
Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
,
Léon and
Galicia,
Alfonso III, was given the fief of Portucale, and the surrounding areas. This included the area from the
Minho to the
Douro River: the settlement of ''
Portus Cale'' and the area that is known as
Vila Nova de Gaia. Portus Cale, later referred to as
Portucale, was the origin for the modern name of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
.
In 868,
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
Vímara Peres established the
County of Portugal, , usually known as ''Condado Portucalense'', after repopulating the region north of the Douro River.
In 1093,
Teresa of León, illegitimate daughter of the king
Alfonso VI of Castile, married
Henry of Burgundy, bringing the
County of Portugal as a dowry. This ''Condado Portucalense'' became the focus of what has been called the Portuguese
Reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
that would expand the
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, 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 known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...
south, beginning in the reign of King
Afonso I of Portugal
Dom Afonso IOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician languages, Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on th ...
in the 12th century.
In 1387, Porto was the site of the marriage of
John I of Portugal and
Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of
John of Gaunt; this symbolized a long-standing
military alliance
A military alliance is a formal Alliance, agreement between nations that specifies mutual obligations regarding national security. In the event a nation is attacked, members of the alliance are often obligated to come to their defense regardless ...
between Portugal and
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The Portuguese-English alliance (see the
Treaty of Windsor) is the world's oldest recorded military alliance.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, Porto's shipyards contributed to the development of Portuguese shipbuilding. Also from the port of Porto, in 1415, Prince
Henry the Navigator (son of
John I of Portugal) embarked on the
conquest of the Moorish port of Ceuta, in northern
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
.
This expedition by the king and his fleet, which included Prince Henry, was followed by navigation and exploration along the western coast of Africa, initiating the Portuguese
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...
. The nickname that the people of Porto are known by began in those days; Portuenses are to this day, colloquially, referred to as ''tripeiros'' (''tripe peoples''), referring to this period of history, when higher-quality cuts of meat were shipped from Porto with their sailors, while off-cuts and by-products, such as
tripe, were left behind for the citizens of Porto;
tripe remains a culturally important dish in modern-day Porto.
18th century
By the 13th century, the wine produced in the
Douro valley was already being transported to Porto in ''barcos rabelos'' (flat sailing vessels). In 1703, the
Methuen Treaty established trade relations and a military alliance between Portugal and England. In 1717, the first English trading post was established in Porto. The production of
port wine
Port wine (, ; ), or simply port, is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often served with dessert wine, ...
then gradually passed into the hands of a few English firms. To counter this dominance, Prime Minister
Marquis of Pombal established a monopolistic Portuguese firm to receive all the wines from the Douro valley. He demarcated the region for the production of port, to ensure the wine's quality; this was the first attempt to control wine quality and production in Europe, which was almost a century ahead of a similar exercise in Bordeaux. The small winegrowers revolted against his strict policies on
Shrove Tuesday, burning down the buildings of this firm. The revolt became known as the ''Revolta dos Borrachos'' (revolt of the drunkards).
Between 1732 and 1763, Italian architect
Nicolau Nasoni designed a
baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
church with a tower that became its architectural and visual icon: the
Torre dos Clérigos (English: Clerics' Tower). During the 18th and 19th centuries, the city became an important industrial center and its size and population increased.
19th century
Porto constructed its first permanent bridge, the Ponte das Barcas (a floating
pontoon bridge), in 1806. During the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
, French troops led by
Marshal Soult invaded Portugal and approached the city of Porto. On March 29, 1809, during what became known as the
First Battle of Porto, thousands of civilians and refugees fleeing the advancing French forces rushed to cross the Douro River via the Ponte das Barcas. The bridge collapsed under the excessive weight, resulting in approximately 4,000 deaths. This catastrophe, known as the
Porto Boat Bridge disaster, remains the deadliest bridge disaster in world history.(This event is still remembered by a plate at the
Ponte D. Luis I.) In the
Second Battle of Porto, the
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...
was
rooted out of Porto by
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...
, when his
Anglo-Portuguese Army crossed the Douro River from the Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar (a former convent) in a brilliant daylight ''
coup de main'', using wine barges to transport the troops, outflanking the French Army.
Influenced by liberal revolutions occurring in Europe, the
Liberal Revolution of 1820 started in Porto. The revolutionaries demanded the return of
John VI of Portugal, who had
transferred the Portuguese Court to the Portuguese
colony of Brazil since the French invasions of Portugal, it also demanded a constitutional monarchy to be set up in Portugal. In 1822, a liberal constitution was accepted, partly through the efforts of the liberal assembly of Porto (Junta do Porto). When
Miguel I of Portugal took the Portuguese throne in 1828, he rejected this constitution and reigned as an anti-liberal, absolutist monarch. A civil war (known as the
Liberal Wars) was then fought from 1828 to 1834 between those supporting Constitutionalism, and those opposed to this change, keen on near-absolutism and led by D. Miguel. Porto rebelled again and had to undergo a
siege of eighteen months between 1832 and 1833 by the
absolutist army. Porto is also called "Cidade Invicta" (English: Unvanquished City) after successfully resisting the
Miguelist siege. After
the abdication of King Miguel, the liberal constitution was re-established.
The collapsed ''Ponte das Barcas'' was eventually replaced by the
Ponte D. Maria II. Known popularly as ''Ponte Pênsil'' (
suspended bridge), it was built between 1841 and 1843, with only its supporting pylons remaining today. The ''
Ponte D. Maria'', a railway bridge, was inaugurated on 4 November 1877; it was considered a feat of
wrought iron engineering and was designed by
Gustave Eiffel, notable for
his Parisian tower. The later
Ponte Dom Luís I replaced the aforementioned Ponte Pênsil. This last bridge was made by Theophile Seyrig, a former partner of Eiffel. Seyrig won a governmental competition that took place in 1879. Building began in 1881 and the bridge was opened to the public on 31 October 1886.
A higher-learning institution in nautical sciences (Aula de Náutica) was established in 1762. A
stock exchange
A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...
(Bolsa do Porto, 1834 – 1910) was also established in the city but was discontinued in 1910 following the implementation of the Republic, with the building being returned to the Association in 1911.
Unrest by Republicans led to the
31 January 1891 revolt in Porto, the first uprising against the Portuguese monarchy. This resulted ultimately in the overthrow of the monarchy and proclamation of the republic by the
5 October 1910 revolution
5 October 1910 Revolution () was the overthrow of the centuries-old List of Portuguese monarchs, Portuguese monarchy and its replacement by the First Portuguese Republic. It was the result of a ''coup d'état'' organized by the Portuguese Repub ...
.
20th century to present
On 19 January 1919, forces favorable to the restoration of the monarchy launched a
counter-revolution in Porto known as
Monarchy of the North. During this time, Porto was the capital of the restored kingdom, as the movement was contained to the north. The monarchy was deposed less than a month later, which marked the final end to monarchy in Portugal.
The historic center of Porto was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. The World Heritage Site is defined in two concentric zones; the "Protected area", and within it the "Classified area". The Classified area comprises the medieval borough located inside the 14th-century Romanesque wall.
In 2001, Porto, alongside
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, was the
European Capital of Culture for the entire year. For this event, several urban projects, from urban requalification to new infrastructures and public transportation, were put into practice.
Geography
Situated at 280Km from Lisbon, in 1996,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
recognized Porto's historic centre as a
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
.
Among the architectural highlights of the city, Porto
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
is the oldest surviving structure, together with the small
romanesque Church of Cedofeita, the
gothic Igreja de São Francisco (Church of
Saint Francis), the remnants of the
city walls and a few 15th-century houses. The
baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
style is well represented in the city in the elaborate gilt work
interior decoration of the churches of St. Francis (''São Francisco'') and St. Claire (''Santa Clara''), the churches of Mercy (''Misericórdia'') and of the Clerics (''
Clérigos''), the
Episcopal Palace of Porto, and others. The
neoclassicism
Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...
and
romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
of the 19th and 20th centuries also added interesting monuments to the landscape of the city, like the magnificent Stock Exchange Palace (''
Palácio da Bolsa''), the Hospital of
Saint Anthony, the Municipality, the buildings in the
Liberdade Square and the ''Avenida dos Aliados'', the tile-adorned
São Bento railway station and the gardens of the
Crystal Palace (''Palácio de Cristal''). A guided visit to the
Palácio da Bolsa, and in particular, the Arab Room is a major
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural beaut ...
.
Many of the city's oldest houses are at risk of collapsing. The population in Porto municipality dropped by nearly 100,000 since the 1980s, but the number of permanent residents in the outskirts and satellite towns has grown strongly.

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 7 civil parishes (''
freguesias''):
*
Aldoar, Foz do Douro e Nevogilde
*
Bonfim
*
Campanhã
*
Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória
*
Lordelo do Ouro e Massarelos
*
Paranhos
*
Ramalde
Climate
Porto features a
warm-summer Mediterranean climate (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Csb''), with influences of an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
(''Cfb''), common in the north of the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
. As a result, its climate shares many characteristics with the warm, dry Mediterranean climates of southern Europe and the wet marine west coast climates of the North Atlantic, providing it warm, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Cool and rainy days can, occasionally, interrupt the sunny weather. These occasional summer rainy periods may last a few days and are characterized by showers and cool temperatures around in the afternoon. The annual precipitation is high and concentrated in the winter months, making Porto one of the wettest major cities of Europe. However, long periods with higher temperatures and sunny days are frequent even during the rainiest months.
Summers are typically sunny, with average temperatures between , but can rise to as high as during occasional heat waves. During such heatwaves, the
humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...
remains quite low. Nearby beaches are often windy and usually cooler than the urban areas. Summer average temperatures are a few degrees cooler than those expected in more continentally Mediterranean-influenced Portuguese cities because of the oceanic influence.
Winter temperatures typically range between early in the morning and in the afternoon, but rarely drop below at night. The weather is often rainy for long stretches, although prolonged sunny periods do occur.
Politics and government
Rui Moreira (
Independent) is the current mayor of Porto, having taken office on 22 October 2013, following the 2013 local elections. He was reelected in 2017 and 2021.
Local election results 1976–2021
Parties are listed from left-wing to right-wing.
Active political parties established in Porto
The Portuguese party ''
Iniciativa Liberal'' (IL), founded and headquartered in Porto, is the only Portuguese party represented in
parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
which is headquartered outside of the Lisbon area.
Demographics
Breaking down the population further shows that there is a higher percentage of women than men. Estimates from 2016 show that the population is 55% female, compared to 45% male.
The largest age group, according to 2016 estimates, is 60 to 69, followed by residents in the 50 to 59 demographic. The majority 93.7% of residents were born in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. The city also has residents that were born in
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
, Brazil,
Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
, and countries across Europe.
Census results
Economy

Porto plus the
conurbation
A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...
to which it belongs and has Porto municipality as its central core forming the nucleus of the conurbation, is a major industrial and financial center of both Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula. As the most important city in the heavily industrialized northwest, many of the largest Portuguese corporations from diverse
economic sectors, like
Altri,
Ambar,
Amorim,
Bial,
BPI,
Cerealis,
CIN,
Cofina,
EFACEC,
Frulact,
Lactogal,
Millennium bcp, Porto
Editora,
RAR,
Sonae,
Sonae Indústria, and
Super Bock Group, are headquartered in the
Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto, most notably, in the core municipalities of
Maia,
Matosinhos
Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...
, Porto, and
Vila Nova de Gaia.
The city's former
stock exchange
A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...
(
Bolsa do Porto) was transformed into the largest
derivatives exchange of Portugal, and merged with
Lisbon Stock Exchange
Euronext Lisbon is a stock exchange in Lisbon, Portugal. It is part of Euronext pan-European exchange. The most famous index is PSI-20.
Euronext Lisbon trades equities, public and private Bond (finance), bonds, participation bonds, warrants, cor ...
to create the
Bolsa de Valores de Lisboa e Porto, which eventually merged with
Euronext, together with Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris stock and
futures exchange
A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts defined by the exchange. Futures contracts are derivatives contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or ...
s. The building formerly hosting the stock exchange is currently one of the city's touristic attractions, with the Salão Árabe (Arab Room in English) being its major highlight. The
Banco Português de Fomento (BPF), a Portuguese state-owned development bank established in 2020, is headquartered in Porto.
Porto hosts a popular Portuguese newspaper, ''
Jornal de Notícias
(; ; shortened to JN) is a Portuguese daily national newspaper, one of the oldest in Portugal.
History and profile
''JN'' was founded in Porto and was first published on 21 June 1888. It was one of two Portuguese newspapers published in Angol ...
''. The building where its offices are located (which has the same name as the newspaper) was at a time one of the tallest in the city (it has been superseded by a number of modern buildings which have been built since the 1990s).
Porto Editora, one of the biggest Portuguese publishers, is also located in Porto. Its dictionaries are among the most popular references used in the country, and the translations are very popular as well.
The economic relations between the city of Porto and the Upper
Douro
The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish Soria Province, province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern par ...
River have been documented since the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. However, they were greatly deepened in the modern age. Indeed,
sumach, dry fruits and
nuts and the Douro
olive oil
Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil.
It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...
s sustained prosperous exchanges between the region and Porto. From the riverside quays at the river mouth, these products were exported to other markets of the
Old and
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
. However, the greatest lever to interregional trade relations resulted from the commercial dynamics of the
Port wine
Port wine (, ; ), or simply port, is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often served with dessert wine, ...
(''Vinho do Porto'') agro-industry. It decidedly bolstered the complementary relationship between the large coastal urban centre, endowed with open doors to the sea, and a region with significant agricultural potential, especially in terms of the production of extremely high quality
fortified wines, known by the world-famous label ''Port''. The development of Porto was also closely connected with the left margin of River Douro in
Vila Nova de Gaia, where is located the amphitheater-shaped slope with the Port wine cellars.
The city is very much the gateway to Portugal's northern region as well as the northern and western areas of Spain. Within a two-hour drive of Porto's airport, there are four Unesco World Heritage sites and popular Spanish tourist hotspots such as Santiago de Compostela.
In a study concerning
competitiveness of the 18 Portuguese district capitals, Porto was the worst-ranked. The study was made by
Minho University economics researchers and was published in
Público newspaper on 30 September 2006. The best-ranked cities in the study were
Évora, Lisbon, and
Coimbra. Nevertheless, the validity of this study was questioned by some Porto notable figures (such as local politicians and businesspersons) who argued that the city proper does not function independently but in conurbation with other municipalities. A 2007 ranking published in ''
Expresso'' ranked Porto as the third best city to live in Portugal – tied with
Évora and below
Guimarães and
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
.
The Porto metropolitan area had a GDP amounting to €43.1 billion ($46.6 billion) and €24,075 ($25,989) per capita in 2023.
Tourism
Over the last few years, Porto has experienced significant tourism increases, which may be partly linked to the
Ryanair hub at Francisco de Sá Carneiro Airport. Porto won the European Best Destination 2012, 2014 and 2017 awards.
The city received 2.8 million overnight visitors and 1.4 million day trippers between January and November 2017, with 73% from other countries. Tourism revenue has been increasing by over 11%, according to a 2018 report.
According to a February 2019 report, over 10% of economic activity in Porto is generated by tourism. The hotel occupancy rate in 2017 was 77%. A scholarly study published in June 2019 stated that "Porto is one of the fastest-growing European tourist destinations that has experienced
exponential growth in the demand for city-break tourists".
The most popular tourist attractions in the city include the Porto Cathedral, Dom Luís I Bridge,
Café Majestic,
Livraria Lello and Jardins do Palácio de Cristal.
Transport
Roads and bridges

The road system capacity is augmented by the ''Via de Cintura Interna'' or A20, an internal highway connected to several motorways and city exits, complementing the ''Circunvalação'' 4-lane peripheric road, which borders the north of the city and connects the eastern side of the city to the Atlantic shore. The city is connected to Valença (
Viana do Castelo) by highway A28, to Estarreja (
Aveiro) by the A29, to
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
by the A1, to
Bragança by the A4 and to
Braga by the A3. There is also an outer-ring road, the A41, that connects all the main cities around Porto, linking the city to other major metropolitan highways such as the A7, A11, A42, A43 and A44. Since 2011, a new highway, the A32, connects the metropolitan area to
São João da Madeira and
Oliveira de Azeméis.
The
Dom Luís I Bridge (Ponte de Dom Luís I) is a double-deck metal arch bridge that spans the River Douro between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. Built in 1886, its 172 metres (564 ft) span was then the longest of its type in the world. The top-level is used for the Porto Metro trains, with an option for pedestrians; the lower level carries traffic and pedestrians.
During the 20th century, major bridges were built: ''
Arrábida Bridge'', which at its opening had the biggest concrete supporting arch in the world, and connects the north and south shores of the Douro on the west side of the city, ''
S. João'', to replace ''D. Maria Pia'' and ''
Freixo'', a highway bridge on the east side of the city. The newest bridge is
Infante Dom Henrique Bridge, finished in 2003. Two more bridges are said to be under designing stages and due to be built in the next 10 years, one on the Campo Alegre area, nearby the Faculty of Humanities and the Arts, and another one in the area known as the Massarelos valley.
Porto is often referred to as ''Cidade das Pontes'' (City of the Bridges), besides its more traditional nicknames of "Cidade Invicta" (Unconquered/ Invincible City) and "Capital do Norte" (Capital of the North).
Cruising
In July 2015 a new
cruise terminal was opened at the port of Leixões, which is north of the city in
Matosinhos
Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...
.
Airport

Porto is served by
Francisco de Sá Carneiro Airport which is located in Pedras Rubras, Moreira da Maia civil parish of the neighbouring
Municipality of Maia, some to the north-west of the city centre. The airport underwent a massive programme of refurbishment due to the
Euro 2004 football championships being partly hosted in the city. It is connected to central Porto by metro’s line E. By 2024, the airport served nearly 16 million passengers, being the 2nd busiest airport in Portugal and the
37th busiest in Europe.
Public transport
Railways
Porto's main railway station is
Campanhã railway station, located in the eastern part of the city and connected to the lines of Douro (Peso da Régua/Tua/Pocinho), Minho (Barcelos/Viana do Castelo/Valença) and centre of Portugal (on the main line to
Aveiro,
Coimbra and
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
).
From Campanhã station, both
light rail and
suburban rail services connect to the city center. The main
central station is
São Bento Station, which is itself a notable landmark in the heart of Porto. This station was built between 1900 and 1916, based on plans by architect José Marques da Silva. The large panels of azulejo tile were designed by Jorge Colaço; the murals represent moments in the country's history and rural scenes showing the people of various regions.
Porto is connected with
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
via high-speed trains, ''
Alfa Pendular'', that cover the distance in 2h 42min. The intercities take slightly more than 3 hours to cover the same distance. In addition, Porto is connected to the Spanish city of
Vigo with the
Celta train, running twice every day, a 2h 20min trip.
Light rail
Currently, the major network is the
Porto Metro, a
light rail system. Consequently, the Infante bridge was built for urban traffic, replacing the Dom Luís I, which was dedicated to the light rail on the second and higher of the bridge's two levels. Six lines are open: lines A (blue), B (red), C (green) and E (purple) all begin at
Estádio do Dragão (home to
FC Porto
Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...
) and terminate at Senhor de Matosinhos,
Póvoa de Varzim
Póvoa de Varzim () is a Portugal, Portuguese city in Norte Region, Portugal, Northern Portugal and sub-region of Greater Porto, from its city centre. It sits in a sandy coastal plain, a cuspate foreland, halfway between the Minho River, Minho ...
(via
Vila do Conde),
ISMAI (via Maia) and Francisco Sá Carneiro airport respectively. Line D (yellow) currently runs from Hospital S. João in the north to Vila d'Este on the southern side of the Douro river. Line F (orange), from Senhora da Hora (Matosinhos) to Fânzeres (Gondomar). The lines intersect at the central
Trindade station. Currently, the whole network spans using 85 stations, thus being the biggest
urban rail transit system in the country.
In 2019, Porto Metro transferred the management of the
Funicular dos Guindais to Porto city hall. Currently, expansion of the network is underway, with two lines under construction and a
bus rapid transit expected to open during 2025.
Buses
The city has an extensive
bus network
A bus network is a network topology in which Node (networking), nodes are directly connected to a common half-duplex link called a bus (computing), bus.
A Host (network), host on a bus network is called a ''station''. In a bus network, every ...
run by the
STCP (Sociedade dos Transportes Colectivos do Porto, or Porto
Public transport
Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...
Society) which also operates lines in the neighbouring cities of
Gaia, Maia, Matosinhos,
Gondomar and Valongo. Other smaller companies connect such towns as
Paços de Ferreira and
Santo Tirso to the town center. In the past, the city also had
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
es. A bus journey is 2.50 €, which must be paid in cash.
Trams

A
tram network, of which only three lines remain one of them being a tourist line on the shores of the Douro, saw its construction begin on 12 September 1895, therefore being the first in the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
. The lines in operation all use vintage tramcars, so the service has become a
heritage tramway. STCP also operates these routes as well as a
tram museum. The first line of the area's modern-tram, or
light rail system, named ''
Metro do Porto
The Porto Metro () is a light rail network in Porto, Portugal and a key part of the city's public transport system. Having a semi-metro alignment, it runs underground in central Porto and above ground into the city's suburbs while using low-flo ...
'', opened for revenue service in January 2003 (after a brief period of
free, introductory service in December 2002).
Porto public transportation statistics
The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Porto, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 47 minutes. About 6.5% of public transit riders ride for more than two hours every day. The average time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 12 minutes, while 17.4% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people ride in a single trip with public transit is 6 km, while 5% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.
Culture
In 2001, Porto shared the designation
European Culture Capital with
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
. In the scope of these events, the construction of the major concert hall space
Casa da Música, designed by the Dutch architect
Rem Koolhaas, was initiated and finished in 2005.
The first Portuguese moving pictures were taken in Porto by Aurélio da Paz dos Reis and shown there on 12 November 1896 in the Teatro do Príncipe Real do Porto, less than a year after the first public presentation by
Auguste and Louis Lumière. The country's first
movie studios Invicta Filmes was also erected in Porto in 1917 and was open from 1918 to 1927 in the area of Carvalhido.
Manoel de Oliveira
Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira (; 11 December 1908 – 2 April 2015) was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about Wor ...
, a Portuguese film director and the oldest director in the world to be active until his death in 2015, was from Porto.
Fantasporto is an international film festival organized in Porto every year. The
DCEU film ''
The Suicide Squad'' (2021) written and directed by
James Gunn based on a
Suicide Squad story, shows the city twice in the movie, in which shows us
Daniela Melchior a Portuguese actress, who portrays
Ratcatcher 2 in which the character is the heart of the film, a
Portuguese version of
Ratcatcher.
Many renowned
Portuguese music artists and cult bands such as
GNR,
Rui Veloso,
Sérgio Godinho,
Clã,
Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
,
Azeitonas and
Ornatos Violeta are from the city or its metropolitan area.
Porto has several museums, concert halls, theaters, cinemas,
art galleries
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...
, libraries and bookshops. The best-known museums of Porto are the
National Museum Soares dos Reis (''Museu Nacional de Soares dos Reis''), which is dedicated especially to the Portuguese
artistic movements from the 16th to the 20th century, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of the
Serralves Foundation (''Museu de Arte Contemporânea'').
The city has concert halls such as the
Coliseu do Porto by the Portuguese architect Cassiano Branco, an example of the Portuguese
decorative arts
]
The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose aim is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. This includes most of the objects for the interiors of buildings, as well as interior design, but typically excl ...
. Other notable venues include the historical
São João National Theatre, the ''Rivoli'' theatre, the ''
Batalha cinema'' and ''
Casa da Música'', inaugurated in 2005. The city has the
Lello Bookshop, which is frequently rated among the top bookstores in the world.
Porto houses the largest synagogue in the Iberian Peninsula and one of the largest in Europe –
Kadoorie Synagogue, inaugurated in 1938.
Entertainment

Porto's most popular event is St. John (
São João Festival) on the night of 23–24 June. In this season it's a tradition to have a vase with bush basil decorated with a small poem. During the dinner of the great day, people usually eat sardines and boiled potatoes together with
red wine.
Another major event is
Queima das Fitas, which starts on the first Sunday of May and ends on the second Sunday of the month. Basically, before the beginning of the
study period preceding the school year's last exams,
academia
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
tries to have as much fun as possible. The week has 12 major events, starting with the Monumental Serenata on Sunday, and reaching its peak with the Cortejo Académico on Tuesday, when about 50,000 students of the city's higher education institutions march through the downtown streets till they reach the city hall. During every night of the week, a series of concerts takes place on the Queimódromo, next to the city's park, where it is also a tradition for the students in their second-to-last year to erect small tents where
alcohol
Alcohol may refer to:
Common uses
* Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds
* Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life
** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages
** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
is sold to finance the trip that takes place during the last year of their course of study; an average of 50,000 students attend these events.
Arts
Porto was the birthplace in 1856 of
Susanna Roope Dockery, an Anglo-Portuguese watercolour painter who produced many paintings of the city and the people and landscape of the surrounding rural areas. An Englishman,
Frederick William Flower, moved to Porto in 1834 at the age of 19 to work in the wine trade and subsequently became a pioneer of photography in Portugal. Like Dockery, he drew his inspiration from the city, the Douro river and the rural areas.
In 2005, the municipality funded a
public sculpture to be built in the Waterfront Plaza of
Matosinhos
Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...
. The resulting sculpture is entitled ''
She Changes'' by American artist,
Janet Echelman, and spans the height of 50 × 150 × 150 metres.
Architecture

Due to its long history, the city of Porto carries immense architectural patrimony. From the
Romanesque Cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
to the Social Housing projects developed through the late 20th century, much could be said surrounding architecture.
Porto is home to the
Porto School of Architecture, one of the most prestigious architecture schools in Europe and the world. It is also home to two earners of the
Pritzker Architecture Prize
The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consisten ...
(two former students of the aforementioned
school
A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
):
Álvaro Siza Vieira and
Eduardo Souto de Moura.
This historic area includes the cathedral with its Romanesque choir, the neoclassical Stock Exchange and the Manueline-style Church of Santa Clara. The entire historic centre has been a National Monument since 2001 under Law No. 107/2001. The "Historic Centre of Porto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar" is a Unesco World Heritage site.
Gastronomy
Porto is home to a number of dishes from traditional
Portuguese cuisine
Portuguese cuisine () consists of the traditions and practices of cooking in Portugal. The oldest known book on Portuguese cuisine, entitled ''Livro de Cozinha da Infanta D. Maria de Portugal'', from the 16th century, describes many popular dish ...
. A typical dish from this city is ''
Tripas à Moda do Porto'' (
Tripe Porto style). ''
Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá'' (cod in the style of Gomes de Sá) is another typical
codfish dish born in Porto and popular in Portugal.
The ''
Francesinha'' is the most popular native snack food in Porto. It is a kind of sandwich with several types of meat covered with cheese and a special sauce made with beer and other ingredients.
Rojões (fried pork meat) and
sarrabulho (pig blood-based dish) are also typical dishes of
Norte Region which are very popular in the regional capital, the city of Porto. Like in almost all coastal areas of the Portuguese littoral with wide availability of fresh fish,
sardinha assada (grilled sardine) is also a usual, classic main dish.
Port wine
Port wine (, ; ), or simply port, is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often served with dessert wine, ...
, an internationally renowned wine, is widely accepted as the city's
dessert wine, especially as the wine is made along the
Douro
The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish Soria Province, province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern par ...
River, which runs through the city.
Education
The city has a large number of public and private
elementary and secondary schools, as well as kindergartens and nurseries. The oldest and largest international school located in Porto is the
Oporto British School, established in 1894. There are more international schools in the city, such as the
French School, the
Deutsche Schule zu Porto, and the
Oporto International School, which were created in the 20th century.
Higher education

Porto has several institutions of higher education, the largest one being the state-managed
University of Porto (''Universidade do Porto''), which is the second largest Portuguese university, after the
University of Lisbon
The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...
, with approximately 28,000 students and considered one of the 100 best Universities in Europe. There is also a state-managed
polytechnic institute, the
Polytechnic Institute of Porto
The Instituto Politécnico do Porto (Polytechnic University of Porto), also referred to as Politécnico do Porto (Porto Polytechnic) and P.PORTO (since 2016, for naming and branding purposes), is a composition of multiple polytechnic schools base ...
(a group of technical colleges), and private institutions like the
Lusíada University of Porto,
Universidade Fernando Pessoa (UFP), the Porto's Higher Education School of Arts (''ESAP- Escola Superior Artística do Porto'') and a
Vatican state university, the
Portuguese Catholic University in Porto (''Universidade Católica Portuguesa – Porto'') and the Portucalense University in Porto (''Universidade Portucalense – Infante D. Henrique''). Due to the recognition, potential for employment and higher revenue, there are many students from the entire country, particularly from the
north of Portugal, attending a college or university in Porto.
For foreigners wishing to study Portuguese in the city there are a number of options. As the most popular city in Portugal for
ERASMUS students, most universities have facilities to assist foreigners in learning the language . There are also several private language learning institutions in the city.
Sport

Porto, in addition to football stadia since football is by far the most popular sport in Porto and across the entire country, is home to many athletic sports arenas, most notably the city-owned
Super Bock Arena (formerly Pavilhão Rosa Mota), swimming pools in the area of ''Constituição'' (between the ''Marquês'' and ''Boavista''), and other minor arenas, such as the ''Pavilhão do Académico'', as well as to other sports fields. These sports arenas, swimming pools and sports fields are used for the practice of sports, including varsity and competitive professional sports, in a diversity of sport disciplines ranging from handball, basketball, futsal and field hockey to rink hockey, volleyball, water polo and rugby.
Porto is home to northern Portugal's only
Cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
club, the
Oporto Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club. Annually, for more than 100 years, a match (the
Kendall Cup) has been played between the Oporto Club and the Casuals Club of
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, in addition to regular games against touring teams (mainly from England). The club's pitch is located off the ''Rua Campo Alegre''.
In 1958 and 1960, Porto's streets hosted the Formula One
Portuguese Grand Prix on the
Boavista street circuit, which are reenacted annually, in addition to a
World Touring Car Championship race.
It is one of the potential host cities for the
2030 FIFA World Cup.
Every year in October the
Porto Marathon is held through the streets of the old city of Porto.
In 2023
HC Porto became the first Portuguese
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team to join the
Spanish ''
Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo'' (LNHH) after an agreement was made between the
Portuguese Winter Sports Federation,
Royal Spanish Winter Sports Federation and the
International Ice Hockey Federation
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries.
The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey to ...
.
Football

As in most Portuguese cities,
football is the most popular sport. There are two main teams in Porto:
FC Porto
Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...
in the parish of
Campanhã in the eastern part of the city, and
Boavista in the area of Boavista in the parish of
Ramalde, in the western part of the city, close to the city centre. FC Porto is one of the "
Big Three" teams in the main Portuguese football league, and was European champion in 1987 and 2004, won the UEFA Cup (2003) and Europa League (2011) and the Intercontinental Toyota Cup in 1987 and 2004. Boavista have won the championship once, in the
2000–01 season and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2003, where they lost 2–1 to
Celtic.
Formerly,
Salgueiros from
Paranhos was a regular first division club during the 1980s and 1990s but, due to financial indebtedness, the club folded in the 2000s. The club was
refounded in 2008 and began playing at the regional level. They now play at the third level of Portugal's national football pyramid.
The biggest stadiums in the city are FC Porto's
Estádio do Dragão and Boavista's
Estádio do Bessa. The first team in Porto to own a stadium was
Académico, who played in the ''Estádio do Lima'', Académico was one of the eight teams to dispute the first division. Salgueiros, sold the grounds of
Estádio Engenheiro Vidal Pinheiro
Estádio Engenheiro Vidal Pinheiro was a multi-use stadium in Porto, Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in conti ...
field to the
Porto Metro and planned on building a new field in the ''Arca d'Água'' area of Porto. Located a few hundred metres away from the old grounds, it became impossible to build on this plot of land due to a large underground water pocket, and, consequently, they moved to the
Estádio do Mar (owned by
Leixões S.C.) in the neighboring
Matosinhos
Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...
municipality. For the
Euro 2004 football competition, held in Portugal, the Estádio do Dragão was built (replacing the old
Estádio das Antas) and the Estádio do Bessa was renovated.
Basketball
The
FC Porto's basketball team plays its home games at the
Dragão Caixa. Its squad won the second most championships in the history of
Portugal's 1st Division. Traditionally, the club provides the
Portuguese national basketball team with numerous key players.
Twin towns – sister cities
Porto is
twinned with:
*
Liège
Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
, Belgium (1977)
*
Ndola, Zambia (1978)
*
Nagasaki, Japan (1978)
*
Recife
Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...
, Brazil (1981)
*
Jena, Germany (1984)
*
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
, England (1984)
*
Vigo, Spain (1986)
*
Beira, Mozambique (1989)
*
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
, France (1990)
*
Duruelo de la Sierra, Spain (1989)
*
São Vicente, Cape Verde (1993)
*
Lembá, São Tomé and Príncipe (1994)
*
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, China (1995)
*
Macau
Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
, China (1997)
*
Luanda
Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...
, Angola (1999)
*
León, Spain (2001)
*
Santos, Brazil (2015)
*
Guatemala city
Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...
, Guatemala (2015)
*
Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
, China (2016)
*
Marsala, Italy (2016)
*
Timișoara
Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...
, Romania (2018)
*
Isfahan, Iran (2021)
Notable people
Explorers and public service
*
Prince Henry the Navigator
Princy Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Infante Dom (title), Dom Henrique''; 4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (), was a Infante of Portugal, Portuguese prince and a ...
(1394–1460), responsible for the early development of European exploration and maritime trade with other continents.
*
Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia (1415–1481), nautical explorer
*
Pero Vaz de Caminha (1450–1500), wrote the letter ''
Carta do Achamento do Brasil'', announcing the discovery of Brazil
*
Ferdinand Magellan (–1521), the globe circumnavigation navigator; lived and studied in Porto
*
Estêvão Gomes (–1538), cartographer and explorer
*
Duarte Coelho (–1554), nobleman, military leader, colonial administrator and founder of
Olinda
Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state ca ...
in Brazil
*
Brás Cubas (1507–1589), explorer, colonial administrator and founder of
Santos in Brazil
*
Inácio de Azevedo (1526–1570), Jesuit missionary
*
Cormac MacCarthy Reagh (b.1770), Irish prince and only surviving male-line issue of the last Chief of the Name MacCarthy Reagh, Finghin of Benduff.
*
Sir John Croft, 1st Baronet (1778–1862), English diplomat and spy for Wellington against Napoleon
*
António Pinto Soares (1780–1865),
Head of State of Costa Rica in 1842
*Sir
William Warre (1784–1853), English officer of the British Army
*
Charles Albert of Sardinia (1798–1849), Italian monarch; died here
*
António da Silva Porto (1817–1890), trader and explorer in Angola
*
Venceslau de Lima (1858–1919), geologist, paleontologist, viticulturist and politician, the
Prime Minister of Portugal
The prime minister of Portugal (; ) is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, is accountable to Ass ...
in 1909
*
Mary of the Divine Heart (1863–1899), countess
Droste zu Vischering and Mother Superior of the Good Shepherd Sisters Convent; died here
*
António Ferreira Gomes (1906–1989), Roman Catholic
bishop of Porto
*
Kaúlza de Arriaga (1915–2004),
Army
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
general, writer, professor and politician
*
Maria de Lourdes Belchior Pontes (1923–1998), writer, poet,
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
and diplomat
*
Francisco de Sá Carneiro (1934–1980), politician,
Prime Minister of Portugal
The prime minister of Portugal (; ) is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, is accountable to Ass ...
in 1980
*
Manuel Clemente (born 1948),
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
of the Catholic Church, the Metropolitan
Patriarch of Lisbon since 2013 and
bishop of Porto in 2007–2013
*
José Pacheco Pereira (born 1949), politician, professor and political analyst
*
Alexandre Quintanilha (born 1945), scientist and Member of Parliament, lives in Porto
*
Rui Moreira (born 1956), businessman and politician, Mayor of Porto
*
Augusto Santos Silva (born 1956), sociologist, academic, politician and
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
*
Rui Rio (born 1957), politician, Mayor of Porto 2002–2013
*
Diogo Vasconcelos (1968–2011), politician and social innovator
Arts and sciences
*
Pedro de Escobar ( – after 1535), Renaissance composer of
polyphony
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...
*
Daniel de Fonseca (1672 – ), Jewish court physician
*
Tomás António Gonzaga (1744 – ), Brazilian poet
*
Vieira Portuense (1765–1805), painter and pioneer of
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...
*
Almeida Garrett (1799–1854), writer, theatre director and liberalist
*
Maria Peregrina de Souza (1809–1894), novelist, poet and folklorist
*
Júlio Dinis (1839–1871), doctor and poet, playwright and novelist
*
Arthur Napoleão dos Santos (1843–1925), composer and pianist
*
Annibal Napoleão
Annibal Napoleão dos Santos (3 January 1845 or 1846Enciclopèdia Espasa. Volum núm. 54, pàg, 425 () — 1880)Ernesto Vieira. ''Diccionario biographico de musicos portuguezes'' Lisboa, 1900 was a Portuguese pianist and composer. He was the second ...
(1845–1880), composer and pianist
*
Alfredo Napoleão (1852–1917), composer and pianist
*
Artur Loureiro (1853–1932), painter, lived and worked in Porto
*
António Nobre (1867–1900), poet, published
Só in 1892, a collection of poems
*
Abigail de Paiva Cruz (1883–1944), naturalist painter, sculptor and feminist activist
*
Guilhermina Suggia (1885–1950), cellist, lived and worked in the UK for many years
*
Armando de Basto (1889–1923), painter, illustrator, sculptor and decorator
*
Aurora Teixeira de Castro (1891–1931), feminist, notary and playwright
*
Corino Andrade (1906–2005), neurologist, born in Porto
*
Manoel de Oliveira
Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira (; 11 December 1908 – 2 April 2015) was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about Wor ...
(1908–2015), film director and screenwriter
*
Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1919–2004), poet and writer
*
Ana Hatherly (1929–2015), poet, visual artist, essayist, film maker, painter and writer
*
Álvaro Siza Vieira (born 1933), architect and
architectural educator
*
Maria Antónia Siza (1940–1973), artist
*
Alexandre Quintanilha (born 1945), scientist, academic and politician
*
Sérgio Godinho (born 1945), singer-songwriter, composer, actor, poet and author
*
Armando Pombeiro (born 1949), chemical engineer
*
Miguel Sousa Tavares (born 1952), lawyer, journalist and writer
*
Eduardo Souto de Moura (born 1952), architect and academic
*
Rui Reininho (born 1955), singer, lead vocalist of rock band
GNR
*
Jorge Chaminé (born 1956), operatic baritone
*
Richard Zimler (born 1956), novelist, lives and works in Porto
*
Pedro Abrunhosa (born 1960), singer-songwriter, musician and composer
*
J. K. Rowling (born 1965), writer who taught English as a foreign language in Porto and lived there in 1991–1993
*
Armindo Freitas-Magalhães (born 1966), psychologist and scientist
*
Mónica de Miranda (born 1976), visual artist, photographer, filmmaker, and researcher
*
Abel Pereira (born 1978), classical horn player
*
Luciana Abreu (born 1985), singer, actress and television host
*
Sara Sampaio (born 1991), supermodel
*
Cláudia Pascoal (born 1994), musician
Business
*
Charles Augustus Howell (1840–1890), art dealer and alleged
Blackmailer
*
Fernando Van Zeller Guedes (1903–1987), co-founded
Sogrape, the inspiration behind
Mateus rosé
A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...
*
Belmiro de Azevedo (1938–2017), entrepreneur, industrialist, founder of
Sonae
*
Paulo de Azevedo (born 1965), businessman, son and successor of
Belmiro de Azevedo
*
José Neves (born 1974), billionaire entrepreneur and the founder of
Farfetch
Sport

*
Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa (1937-2025), president of
FC Porto
Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...
*
Humberto Coelho
Humberto Manuel de Jesus Coelho (born 20 April 1950) is a Portuguese retired footballer and manager.
In a career mainly associated with Benfica, the central defender also competed professionally in France and the United States, during a 16- ...
(born 1950), footballer
*
Fernando Gomes (born 1956), footballer
*
Rosa Mota (born 1958), marathon runner, Olympic winner
*
Nuno Marques (born 1970), tennis player
*
Jorge Costa (born 1971), football player and manager
*
João Pinto (born 1971), footballer
*
Miguel Ramos (born 1971), racing driver
*
Ricardo Sá Pinto (born 1972), football player and manager
*
Tiago Monteiro (born 1976), racing driver
*
Petit (born 1976), football player and manager
*
André Villas-Boas (born 1977), football manager
*
Bruno Alves (born 1981), footballer
*
Raul Meireles (born 1983), footballer
*
Diogo Leite (born 1989), footballer
*
João Mário (born 1993), footballer
*
Diogo Jota (born 1996), footballer
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
* Francis, A. D., "John Methuen and the Anglo-Portuguese Treaties of 1703". ''The Historical Journal'', Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 103-124 (1960).
* Glover, Michael, ''The Peninsular War 1807–1814''. Penguin, 1974.
*
Lochery, Neill, ''Porto: Gateway to the World''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.
*
* Loyrette, Henri. ''Gustave Eiffel''. New York: Rizzoli, 1985
*
* Redacção Quidnovi, com coordenação de
José Hermano Saraiva, ''História de Portugal, Dicionário de Personalidades'', Volume VIII, ed. QN-Edição e Conteúdos, S.A., 2004.
* Smith, Digby, ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book''. Greenhill, 1998.
External links
Coordination and Development Committee of the North RegionMetropolitan Area of PortoTourism of Porto and Norte Region, Portugal
{{Authority control
Cities in Portugal
Populated coastal places in Portugal
Municipalities of Porto District
World Heritage Sites in Portugal
Port cities and towns in Portugal
Populated places in Porto District
Populated places established in the 3rd century BC