Portugal, Porto

Porto population 263,000 in 15 parishes, with about 1,600,000 in the Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto  (continuous urban aglomeration), is Portugal's second city. Porto's municipality is the core of a large northern Atlantic conurbation, and Porto district is one of the most industrialised districts of Portugal.

One of Portugal's most internationally famous products, Port wine, was named after the city because it was originally shipped from the area

History

Historic references to the city go back to the 4th century and to Roman times, although Celtic and pre-Celtic remnants of ancient Citadels were found in the heart of where Porto now lies. In the period before the foundation of Portugal, it was named Portus Cale (English: Port of Gaia). The surrounding county was thus named Condado Portucalense (English: County of Portus Cale).

In 1095 Teresa of León, illigimate daughter of king Alfonso VI of Castile, married Henry of Burgundy, bringing the County of Portugal as dowry. This Condado Portucalense became the focus of the Reconquista and later became the independent kingdom called Portugal

Culture

The first Portuguese moving pictures were taken in Porto by Aurélio da Paz dos Reis and shown there on 12 November 1896 in 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 theatre Invicta Filmes was also erected in Porto in 1917 and was open from 1918 to 1927 in the area of Carvalhido. Manoel de Oliveira, a well-known Portuguese film director and the oldest director in the world who is still active, is from Porto. Fantasporto is a remarkable international film festival organized in Porto every year.

Many renowned Portuguese music artists and cult bands such as GNR, Rui Veloso, Sérgio Godinho, Clã, and Pluto are from the city

Entertainment

Oporto's most popular event is undoubtedly St. John on the night of 23 to 24 of 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. In the evening everybody gathers in downtown and hit each other with plastic hammers and leeks. There are also fires lit on the streets that are jumped over. At midnight there's a big fireworks show next to the river.

One other major event is Queima das Fitas, on the second week of May.

Climate

Porto lies just to the north of a coastal mediterranean climate zone that encompasses most of central and southern Portugal. As a result, its climate shares many characteristics with the coastal south: temperate dry summers, and mild rainy winters. Unlike the south, however, cool and rainy interludes can interrupt the summer dry season and the season's average length is considerably shorter. Also, the city's more northern position and coastal location off the Atlantic often results in notably cooler weather in Porto than to its south, especially during summer.

Economy

Porto has always rivaled Lisbon in economic power. As the most important city in the heavily industrialised north, many of the largest Portuguese corporations from diverse economic sectors, like Altri, Amorim, Bial, EFACEC, Lactogal, Millennium bcp, Porto Editora, Sonae, and Unicer, are headquartered in the Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto.

The city's former stock exchange (Bolsa do Porto) was transformed into the largest derivatives exchange of Portugal, and merged with Lisbon Stock Exchange to create the Bolsa de Valores de Lisboa e Porto, which eventually merged with Euronext, together with Amsterdam, Brussels, LIFFE and Paris stock and futures exchanges. The building formely hosting the stock exchange is currently one of the city's touristic attractions, the Salão Árabe (Arab Room in English) being its major highlight.