River Douro

A neoclassical building, built in the scope of the Anglo-Palladian line, in the 19th century, according to a project carried out by the engineer Jean F. G. Colson. It has two facades, one facing the Douro river and one facing the city. Note the structural solutions that resorted to the use of iron in conjunction with other materials - stone, brick or wood - depending on the functionality of the different spaces. In 1987 they decided to install, in the building, the future Museum of Transport and Communications, belonging to the Association with the same name. For this, restoration and adaptation works were carried out in accordance with the project by the architect Eduardo Souto Moura. The Association for the Museum of Transport and Communications (A.M.T.C) also offers an Exhibition and Congress Centre, spread across various areas of Customs, as well as a Training Centre.

Praça da Ribeira was once separated from the Douro River by a section of the Fernandina wall where the main door connecting to the river was opened. Various roofs were opened for this square, and only one remained, on the east side, along the internal side of the wall.

The Palace of Freixo, built in the mid 18th century, is one of the most remarkable monuments of Portuguese civil baroque designed by the architect Nasoni. The palace has a rectangular design and there are prominent turrets on the corners which are covered by slate roofs in the shape of pyramids. The interior of the palace is extremely flush. A lot of the compartments have 'frescos' and well executed stucco ceilings, some with oriental influence. Illusory painting with allegorical themes is commonly used inside the palace and was largely painted by Nasoni himself. The garden was clearly designed according to Italian tradition, with sculptures and a magnificent view over the River. It is now a Pousada de Portugal, preserving the entire façade of its buildings which were classified as a National Monument since 1910. The Pousada consists of two separate buildings that are connected: the Palace and the Harmonia Mill, both of them prepared to house large events and meetings.

Work of the French firm Claranges Lucotte and Company. It was inaugurated in 1843 and fulfilled the need of a permanent bridge connecting Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. It was said, however, that the bridge shook like "green sticks" and this feeling of insecurity contributed to its short 44yr existence. It was deactivated in 1887 and replaced by Ponte Luis I. Currently, only two stone, obelisk shaped pillars remain.

The city's most important Gothic temple, whose construction began in the fourteenth century. It is one of the most important works of the Baroque, by its gilded interior from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is worth of notice the Tree of Jesse, as well as the catacombs. It is a National Monument since 1910.

The Port Wine Museum is settled on the ground floor of the Cais Novo warehouse, a building from the seventeenth century which was built to be the wine deposit of the Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro (General Company of Agriculture of the Alto Douro Vineyards). This museum is dedicated to the study of the relevance of Port Wine and its trade to the development of the city. Porto's history cannot be dissociated from the history of the wine that made the city famous worldwide. It conditioned the city's cultural, architectural and social growth. The Museum is intended to be a memory of all those influences and transformations, and at the same time, it conveys the history of the three Portos brought together: Porto the city, Porto (Port) the wine, and Porto the Douro river harbour.

Project celebrating Port Wine culture, combining contemporaneity and tradition and settled in a building from the eighteenth century, recovered to offer modern and wide spaces for leisure, shopping and exhibitions. It includes a Porto Cruz wines boutique, also with books and objects dedicated to wine, an exhibitions room and a lounge terrace offering a 360° visual experience over the River Douro and Ribeira.

Opened in 1997, this is a living museum, with dozens of working machines, which can be used by visitors to practice the old arts of composing and printing. There are three major sections: pre-printing, printing and perfecting. The Rodrigo Álvares Room is a tribute to the first Portuguese printer, who printed two books in Porto, in 1497. The Temporary Exhibitions Gallery constant displays exhibitions illustrating the social, educational and cultural importance of Press and Graphic Arts. The Cartoon represents one of the Museum's main lines, materialised in the International Cartoon Gallery and in the yearly Porto Cartoon-World Festival, considered to be one of the three major cartoon festivals in the world.

Opened in 1992, it houses a collection of trams and other support vehicles that once circulated in Porto and which have marked the history of urban rail transport in the city. Also making part of the museum's collection is an American car, with animal traction, having circulated for the first time in Porto in 1872. Located in the former power station of Massarelos, the museum also includes a power processing central from the early 20th century. It offers educational and entertainment services, spaces and trams rental service, events organisation and a documentation centre.

The Museum is headquartered at the Alfândega Nova building, built on the second half of the nineteenth century on the former beach of Miragaia, having been renovated according to a project by Eduardo Souto de Moura. This multifaceted space plays an active role in the cultural panorama of the city and of the region having as mission the dissemination of knowledge on the role played by transports and communications in the evolution of modern society, as well as valuing the memory of the site. The Museum has three permanent exhibitions "THE AUTOMOBILE IN SPACE AND TIME', 'COMMUNICATE' and "METAMORPHOSIS OF A PLACE: THE CUSTOMS MUSEUM".