OPOR70, Port. pron. u-ptieto (I'ortug. Porto, .0 Porto, The Port). The second city of Portugal in population and importance. It is situated on the north bank of the Douro about three miles from its mouth, in the Province of Entre-Minho-e-Douro, District of Oporto, and 172 miles north by east of Lisbon Portugal, A 2). It is one of the most beautifully situated towns of the whole peninsula, being built on an amphitheatre of hills between two rocky head lands extending to the river banks, while the lit tle village of Villa Nova de Gala nestles in a similar position on the opposite side of the river. Like Lisbon, the city rises in a steep in cline from the river side, the houses and gar dens being terraced above one another with a very picturesque effect. The newer portions spread out over the upper slopes and are sur rounded by wooded heights dotted with villas. Many of the streets in the older portion of the city are steep, narrow, and tortuous, but on the heights there are several wide avenues command ing fine views of the river and city below and of the ocean beyond. From the heights east of the city two magnificent iron bridges span the river. The first, that of Luiz I., crosses the river in a single arch of 560 feet span, and car ries a roadway 200 feet above the water. It is rivaled in size and beauty by few other bridges of the kind in Europe. The second bridge, that of Pia, is almost as large as the Luiz I., and carries a railroad. The centre of the business section of the city is the low-lying portion around the Praea de Dom Pedro, faced by the city hall on the north, and having in its centre a bronze equestrian statue of Pedro IV., Emperor of Bra zil (as such Pedro T.). From this square the streets lead upward to the hills on either side, which are crowned on the west by the high and slender clock-tower of the Glerigos Church. and on the east by the cathedral. West of the Cleri gos Church is the Jardim da Cordoarla. which, like the other garden-plazas of the city, has a luxuriant wealth of mingled southern and north ern flora. Still farther west is another park con taining the Crystal Palace, a large building erected for the industrial exposition of 1805. and now oceupied by a theatre and ballrooms. Among other buildings worthy of note are, be sides several churches, the exchange. a handsome building with a central court, and the English factory house. an imposing structure built in 1785. and used chiefly for club-rooms. Oporto is distinetly a modern city, and the commercial and industrial interests predominate. The chief
educational institutions are the polytechnic academy and the schools of commerce and naviga tion, besides a school of medicine, and one of philosophy, and several colleges. There is a municipal library of 120.000 volumes.
About one-third of the population of Oporto are engaged in manufacturing industries, which are represented by distilleries, sugar refineries, tan neries, and manufactures of woolen, cotton, and silk fabrics, Jetts, preserved foods and beverages, soap, pottery, corks, tobacco. and jewelry. There are also a number of factories in Villa Nova de Gaia, on the south bank of the river, and here are large depositories for the well-known port wine. The only harbor facilities of oporto for merly consisted of the quays along the banks of the river, which is here 600 feet wide. The water of the river is deep enough for large vessels, but the mouth is almost closed by a sandy spit prolonged into a bar. To avoid this bar a new harbor was completed in 1892 at Leixoes, on the ocean miles north of the river-mouth. and connected with the city ln• a street railroad. This harbor is formed by two jetties or breakwaters, each about three-fourths of a mile long, and projecting into the ocean so as to form an artificial port with a narrow en trance. The total shipping of both harbors in 1900 amounted to 2765 vessels, aggregating I.821, 780 tons, and the total trade was valued at near ly $25.000,000, of which about $17,000.000 repre sented imports. The chief exports are wine, oil, and olives, raisins, oranges, lemons, onions. cork, salt, cattle, and building materials. The city is the seat of a United States consular agent. The population in 1890 was 139.856: and in 1900. 172,421.
In ancient times the site of Oporto was occu pied by the harbor-town Portus Cale, afterward: Porto Cale, from which has been derived the name of the Kingdom. Portugal. It was an important city during the supremacy of the Arabs, was destroyed in S20 by Almansur of Cor dova, hut was restored and peopled by a colony of Gaseous and French in 999. During the dle Ages it was famous for the strength of its fortifications, its walls being 30 feet in height, and flanked with towers. In 1808 it was taken by the French; but in the following year it was retaken by an Anglo-Portuguese force under Wellington. In 1S32-33 Dom Pedro. the ex Emperor of Brazil, was unsuccessfully besieged in this city by the forces of Dom Miguel. Con sult Sellers, Oporto, Old and Neu- (London. 1899).