A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
064: Centro Histórico
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
porto
All posts tagged porto
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
063: Dom Luis I Bridge
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
062: Port wine boat on Douro River
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
061: City view from the Douro River
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
060: Funicular dos Guindais
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
059: Balconies in Ribeira
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
058: Portwine quais
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
057: Portwine Boat
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
042: Historic tram
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
041: Dom Luis I Bridge
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
040: Black shoes in a door
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
022: Historic tram
T
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
013: Clerigos Church
One of the landmarks in Porto is without doubt the Torre dos Clérigos (Clérigos Church and Tower). The more than 75 meters high bell tower can be seen from different points in the city; from the top, one has a splendid view over the city of Porto. At the request of the Brotherhood of the Clerics (Clérigos), Italian architect Nicolai Nasoni a project of a new baroque-style tower, its construction started in 1754. Nine years later, in 1763, the construction was completed with the placement of the iron cross on top of the tower. The top of the tower can be reached by climbing 225 steps, but the 360 degrees view over the city of Porto is unforgettable. The complex also host a museum that shows the history of the Brotherhood of the Clerics.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
012: Praça de Carlos Alberto
In the Medieval Era, this square was called Largo dos Ferradores (Blacksmith’s Square). It was also known as the Feira das Caixas, referring to the carpenters that produced wooden boxes for migrants heading for Brazil. In 1849, Carlos Alberto, king of Sardinia and Piemonte, stepped down in favor of his son, Vitor Emmanuel II who later unified Italy, with help of Garibaldi amongst others. Carlos Alberto settled himself in a small palace at Largo dos Ferradores in Porto, and died only three months later. Soon the square was renamed after him. His palace is now in use by the city council. The square also exhibits a monument that remembers the Portuguese that died during the Great War of 1914-1918.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
011: Greengrocer
When I was walking in the historic center of Porto, I noticed many hawkers standing or sitting down at the pavement, trying to sell their merchandise. Most of them sold products, which they grew at home, or at their farm. Different kinds of fruit and vegetables, eggs, nuts. They had put their merchandise on simple crates, and some of them even made some more effort to arrange their vegetables and fruit in neat piles or pyramids. This older woman sat on the curbstones and waited patiently for her customes. A man in the corner of the photo appears to watch her.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
010: Clothes to dry in Ribeira
When I was in Porto for the first time, my friend, who worked there at the local university, warned me several times not to walk alone in the Ribeira neighborhood. It was considered as dangerous. However, during my third visit, I dared walking in the winding and narrow streets. It was amazing to see the tall buildings that were composed of many separate floors of small houses. As if you were watching a giant toy cube house. Nowadays, Ribeiro, which is located at the margin of the Douro River, is part of Porto’s historic center that is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. As a result, the neighborhood can only be reformed when the original characteristics will be preserved. The Ribeiro is located within the São Nicolau freguesia (little district) with less than two thousand inhabitants. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods of Porto: constructions started late 14th century. Nowadays, Ribeira is a popular location for dining out and going out in bars. At day, I noticed various women hanging their laundry on the balconies.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
009: Port wine houses
When you visit Porto, you should cross the Ponte Luis I, the wrought iron bridge – designed by Gustave Eiffel – that spans the Douro River, to Vila Nova de Gaia. This district is famous for its caves, the port wine houses. The giant billboards allow you to read world famous names of delicious port wines: Sandeman, Graham’s, Ferreira, Cálem, Ramos Pinto, Offley, Croft, Churchill’s, and many more. When I was in Porto for the first time, I was invited by my friend to visit one of these caves, and we chose Offley. We were impressed by the enormous cellars where stood a large number of big oaken barrels full of wines that were selected to ripen and become Tawny, Ruby or Vintage port wines. We tasted some of those sweet, warm port wines, and I bought a Colheita of white port wine, which I liked very much.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
008: Rabelos, port wine boats
It is quite a romantic image: little boats, with a number of barrels on the decks, on the Douro River, with the Dom Luis Bridge behind. A typical view of Porto, world famous for the port wines produced there. The boats are called barco rabelo (rabelo=’little tail) and are typical for the transport of goods and passengers on the Douro River. Port wines, produced in the Douro Valley, were transported to Porto (neighboring Vila Nova da Gaia, at the other side of the Douro River, to be more precise) for storage and trade. The rabelo is a little extension at the rear of the boat, used for steering. For a long time, transport by rabelos was the fastest way of transport between the Douro Valley and Porto. Every year, on 24 June (St. John’s feast day), a rabelo race is held. Nowadays, the boats are also used for tourist acitivities, like boat tours.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
007: Foz do Douro sunset
The city of Porto is located at the Douro River, that ends in the Atlantic Ocean. However, Foz do Douro, that is also part of the city of Porto, is located at the mouth of the Douro River, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. A perfect location to watch an amazing, colorful sunset. That day, the ocean was very calm with little waves. Although it was November, it was quite warm that day and it was still a bit warm at sunset. The warm colors of this sunset also helped to feel ourselves warm. I was imagining what lies beyond the horizon, like people must have been imagining before the discovery of America more than five hundred years ago. That time, I could not have imagined that I would visit Portugal’s former colony Brazil, and even would live there, at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. From where I can imagine the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, when I am at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
006: Big tree silhouette
For a long time, this was one of my most favorite pictures. Not without a reason, because it was selected to appear in an American photo book, which contains a selection of one hundred amateur photographers. It was at the same time that one of my Dutch poems was selected to be included in a poetry bundle of a hundred poems. It’s not hard to imagine that these two achievements motivated me very much to proceed with writing and photography. This photograph was taken in 1999, during my first visit to Porto. It was taken at a little park near Foz do Douro during sunset. A very colorful sunset. The sky colored orange, red, purple, and there were a number of condense lines visible, where just before some commercial aircraft must have flown over. A man was walking under an enormous tree, and their silhouettes create a fine contrast with the sunset hues.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
Adriano Antoine 