Porto is a city of merchants, craftsmen and workers, proud of its independence and its role in the nation's history: it is called the Cidade Invicta, the unvanquished city, for withstanding so many sieges. It is part of the Porto guide; see also the history of Portugal.
- 8th century BCA Celtic hillfort stands on the Sé hill.
- 1st century BCThe Romans settle at the mouth of the Douro: Portus and Cale on the two banks.
- 868Vímara Peres takes the city from the Moors and founds the County of Portucale.
- 1120Queen Teresa grants the city to the bishop.
- 1387John I marries Philippa of Lancaster in the Sé.
- 1394Henry the Navigator is born in Porto.
- 1703The Methuen Treaty opens the English market to port wine.
- 1757The tavern revolt against the wine monopoly.
- 1809The bridge of boats collapses during flight from the French.
- 1832-1833The siege of Porto in the civil war between liberals and absolutists.
- 1886The Dom Luís I Bridge opens.
- 1996The historic centre joins the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Portus Cale
A pre-Roman hillfort stood on the Sé hill. The Romans developed a small port on the north bank, Portus, opposite the settlement of Cale on the south bank, where Gaia is today. The two names combined into Portucale, which gave its name to the county and then to all of Portugal. After the Suebi, the Visigoths and a period of Muslim rule, in 868 Count Vímara Peres retook the city, founding the County of Portucale, nucleus of the future kingdom.
City of bishops and merchants
In 1120 Queen Teresa granted the city to the bishop, and for centuries Porto was ruled by the Church while a strong merchant class grew rich on maritime trade. In 1387 King John I married the English Philippa of Lancaster in the Sé, sealing the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, the oldest in Europe still in force. Their son Henry the Navigator, born in Porto in 1394, launched the Age of Discovery. Legend says the townspeople gave all their meat to the 1415 expedition to conquer Ceuta, keeping only the offal: hence tripas à moda do Porto and the nickname tripeiros.
Wine and the English
From the 17th century the port wine trade with England transformed the city. English merchants set up their houses in Gaia and on Rua Nova dos Ingleses, now Rua do Infante. In 1756 the Marquis of Pombal created the General Company of Agriculture of the Upper Douro Vineyards and the demarcated region, sparking a popular revolt against the monopoly in 1757, harshly suppressed. The 18th century was also the century of Nicolau Nasoni's baroque.
19th-century wars
In 1809, during the second French invasion, thousands of residents fleeing Marshal Soult's troops died when the bridge of boats over the Douro collapsed: a plaque on the Ribeira remembers them. In 1820 the liberal revolution broke out in Porto. In 1832-1833 the city, loyal to Pedro IV's liberals, held out for over a year against the siege by Miguel I's absolutist troops: since then it has been the Cidade Invicta. Pedro IV's heart is kept in Lapa church.
The industrial age and the 20th century
In the second half of the 19th century Porto became the country's industrial centre, with textile mills, the railway, the iron bridges of Eiffel and Seyrig, the Stock Exchange, cafés and ilhas, rows of workers' cottages hidden behind the buildings, some still inhabited. In 1891 the first republican revolt broke out here. Under Salazar's dictatorship the historic centre declined while the city grew in the suburbs. With democracy and EU membership, Porto renewed itself: in 1996 the historic centre was listed by UNESCO, in 2001 it was European Capital of Culture, and in 2004 it hosted the European Football Championship. In the 2010s, with low-cost flights and tourism, the Ribeira and the Baixa were reborn, and Porto was repeatedly voted Europe's best destination.
For places linked to this history see what to see in Porto.