Monuments, Porto

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While riding on the bus to and from my hotel, I kept seeing an impressive monument and decided one day to walk and investigate further. It was worth the effort because it was even more impressive up close.

It turned out to be the Monument to the Heroes of the Peninsular War, commemorating the Peninsular War of 1808 to 1814 when the Portuguese, Spaniards and English joined forces against Napoleon's army.

Construction of the monument started in 1909 but the original sculptor (Alves de Sousa) died before it was finished and it had to be completed by others (Henrique Moreira and Sousa Caldas). It was finally inaugurated in 1951.

At the top of the tall column is a lion, representing the Portuguese, dominating an eagle - Napoleon's empire. Further down the column are carvings of scenes of the war and at the base, more figures of warring soldiers, carved in granite.

The Monument is in the middle of gardens and it's a peaceful place to take a break from the city.

One thing could be said about Porto's Bolsa (stock Market)... it accomplish the ultimate goal with which it was designed: impress its visitors. And if the external view of the building does not impress you enough, you should take the guided tour (five euros very well expended) that will lead you to the Arabic Hall, a fatuous and luxury copy of Granada's Alhambra. Just for that, the visit is totally worthwhile.

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Once upon a time, football was dominated in Portugal by the two national teams: Sporting, whose symbol is a lion, and Benfica represented by an eagle. The two best regional teams, F.C. Porto and Belenenses (from Lisbon), were the challengers, composing the group called "the four big ones". About 30 years ago Porto decided to reverse that domain, and upgraded local F.C. Porto, symbolized by a dragon, to a national level. Belenenses was "expelled" from the top, and a fourth team was needed to compose the big four. Who should it be? Of course, someone from Porto - Boavista F.C, that adopted a panther as symbol. The monument of Boavista celebrates that event: My Sporting (the lion), beats Benfica (the eagle), that largely dominated the scene in the seventies. Excellent. Now: Can you find the panther and dragon in the statue?

Solution: See both pictures' caption

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In Portugal we use to say that "one image speaks more than 1000 words". Having that in mind, and more than 1000 pictures to post, I decided to change my behaviour, posting the pictures as soon as they are ready, and adding the comments later.
Don't get mad on me - I'm glad to share my pictures with you, and the comments will be added soon.

In the beginning of the 19th century the troops of Napoleon invaded and occupied Portugal. Lisbon has been taken, but not Porto.

After a dramatic resistance, Portugal won the war, with the help of the English. To celebrate the resistance has been built a monument almost 50 meters high, with precious sculptures, in one of the main squares of Porto. Close to it, in the beginning of the long avenue that leads to the seafront, the new building of casa da Música deserves your attention.

In Paris, the "Arc du Triomphe" celebrates, among other, the victory of Oporto. To understand the contradiction between these two monuments you may read my tip A provocation

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One of wished visits in Porto is the Arab room, in this palace that now houses the Commercial Association of Porto. That's the reason why they only allow guided visits, and... not always. That´s why I had to skip it once more - a conference was being prepared, and visits were suspended.
I saw it in TV, it looks nice, but pictures are forbidden, so I don't know how it was obtained this one that I found in Panoramio.

Infante D. Henrique, known in English as Prince Henry, the Navigator, was a key man in the beginning of the overseas exploration by the Portuguese.
He was a sponsor of the first navigation enterprises done from the Algarve, down through the African coast, triggering a series of trips that would later take Portuguese ships to places as far as India, China, Japan and South America.
He was born in Oporto. His parents were the then king Joao I and the English noble Philippa of Lancaster.
There's a square with his name in the center of Oporto. The square has this statue to honor him. The statue might be controversial, as there were no pictures of Henry. Arguably, his face is represented in one of the Saint Vincent panels, a series of panels painted in the XV century by Nuno Gonçalves and exhibited in Lisbon's Arte Antiga museum. However, this is not a fact. There is nor a real evidence neither consensus about his real face.

Before the construction of D. Luis bridge, there were two bridges in the same site.

The first one was made of floating barges. It ended up with disaster. During the Napoleon invasion of Portugal in the beginning of the XIX century, the announcement that the French troops were getting close to Oporto made many people to suddenly run away in panic across this bridge toward the safer south bank. The bridge, made up of floating barges, collapsed with the weight. Many people fell into the water and the strong streams of Douro river (before dams were built). Many people drowned.

After that a suspension bridge was built. This bridge was then dismantled when D. Luis bridge was built The piers of the the suspension bridge still remain in Ribeira area, next to the lower deck of D. Luis bridge.