(o Porto, "The Port"), the second city of the kingdom of Portugal, province of Entre Douro e Minho, the Oporto, best cultivated and the most fruitful province in the kingdom, stands on the northern bank of the Douro, about a league from its mouth, in Lat. 41° 11' 15" N., Long. 8° 8' 22" W. Passengers by steamers and the larger vessels usually land at the town of São João de Foz, built on low land at the mouth of the river, where there are a castle and lighthouse. The dangerous bar of the Douro, upon which many vessels have been wrecked, is near Foz. To add to the difficulties of the passage, the bar is continually altering its position. The river itself is liable to sudden risings after heavy falls of rain on the mountains.

It appears from the Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus, that in the year A.D. 160 there was a town on the river over against the present city which bore the name of Cago or Gaia. At a subsequent period the Alani entered Lusitania, and founded a city on the site of the present Oporto, which they called Castrum Noricum, in distinction to the Castrum Antiquum of the opposite bank. About the year 540 this portion of Lusitania was taken possession of by the Arian Goths under Leovigildo, who caused all persons refusing to adopt his opinions to be put to the sword, even, it is said, his own sons. In 716 the Goths gave way to the Moors under Abdul Hassan, who conquered Galicia, and seized the whole country as far as the River Douro. The place afterwards fell into the hands of the Christians, and they were attacked by the Moors under Abderrahman in 820. A battle was fought at Campanha, in which Alfonso I. commanded the Christians. The Moors were defeated, and a part of the city whence the Christians issued to the contest received the name Batalka, which it still retains. However, such was the fluctuating fortune of the contending races, that the place afterwards fell under the power of the Moors, by whom it was retained until 1092, when certain knights of Gascony, commanded by Don Alfonso Frederico, subdued the city, and it was ever afterwards retained by the Christians. In later times Oporto has been notorious for popular outbursts. In 1756 there was an insurrection on account of the creation of the wine monopoly, and twenty-six persons suffered death. On the 11th May 1809 the Duke of Wellington passed the Douro here, and surprised Soult, who fled. The latest event of importance was its siege in 1832 and 1833 by Dom Miguel, and its successful defence by Don Pedro with 7500 men. In this siege the city suffered severely, and more than 16,000 of the inhabitants were killed.

Oporto extends for about 3 miles along the river. The streets, though irregular, are tolerably well paved, kept pretty clean, and some of them are spacious. The principal buildings are—the cathedral, originally of pointed Gothic, but barbarously mangled in later times; the bishop's palace, perched on a high rock, and containing a noble staircase; the Torre dos Clerigos, a tower 210 feet high, built of granite in 1779, commanding an extensive view, and visible from vessels 30 miles away; the English factory-house, a building 70 feet by 90, erected in 1790, and containing a hall-room, library, refreshment-room, &c.; the building, formerly a Capuchin monastery, in which the museum and public library containing 70,000 vols., are deposited; barracks capable of housing 3000 men; the Royal Hospital, commenced, like many of the edifices in Portugal, on an extravagant scale of vastness, and therefore incomplete; the foundling hospital, which annually receives from 1000 to 2000 infants; and a large Italian opera-house. Amongst the numerous churches, that of S. Francisco is large and somewhat imposing; and the Cedo-teira church, very curious. The church of our Lady of Lapa is a handsome Corinthian edifice, forming a well-known landmark. The chapels are very numerous; the monasteries, which formerly existed here to the number of twelve, and the five convents, have been suppressed. The English have a chapel and cemetery, and maintain a chaplain here. Oporto is lighted with gas, manufactured by a company, of which the chief proprietors are British residents. Electro-telegraphic wire connect Oporto with the government offices at Lisbon.

The manufactures of Oporto are on a small scale, and the produce is of a very poor quality. There are iron-foundries, cooperages, sugar-refineries, and roperies; boats and small ships are built here. Oranges are grown in the neighbourhood, and camellias flourish remarkably well. The olive tree receives less attention here than in other parts of Portugal. Oporto has a botanical garden. Small quantities of tin and quicksilver are extracted in the neighbourhood. The chief exports, besides wine, are oil, oranges, and other fruits, cream of tartar, shumach, and cork. The principal imported articles are—corn, rice, coffee, sugar, manufactured goods, hardware, and timber. Oporto has a bank which enjoys good credit, and is of great use in commercial operations; four insurance companies, a government industrial school, a lyceum, an académie polytechnica with ten chairs, a medico-chirurgical school with nine chairs, an academy of fine arts with four chairs, and a public library belonging to the municipality. Nine daily newspapers are published here. The receipts at the custom-house in 1853 amounted to upwards of £33,200, and the receipts from the duties levied on articles of consumption entering the city amounted to £22,250 in the same year. Portuguese steamers connect Oporto with other parts of the kingdom, and British steamers establish a communication with England. The wine known in this kingdom as port, and which has hitherto found its largest market here, is produced in a mountainous district called the Alto-Douro, which is distant from Oporto about 15 leagues. The dimensions of the district are about 8 leagues by 4, and the rocks upon which the soil rests are of igneous origin. The surface is extremely irregular, and the roads very bad. The climate is an extreme one, being cold in winter and hot in summer. Until the vine disease entered the district it produced about 105,000 pipes of wine annually, the average produce being rather more than one pipe per acre. The expense of a pipe of wine varies from 15s. to 60s., according to the nature of the ground. The vines are cultivated in terraces, and not suffered to grow higher than 3½ feet; the effect being by no means pleasing to the eye. In the course of a year the soil is turned over three times: firstly, in autumn, when the earth is hollowed round the roots of the plants with the view of catching the rain; secondly, in April, when the earth is replaced round the roots with the view of defending them from the sun's power; thirdly, when the fruit begins to ripen. The chief part of the work of cultivation is done by men from Galicia, about 8000 of whom are thus employed in the district. The pay of the men is from sixpence to eightpence a day, with food. The vintage commences in the latter part of September, and continues nearly a month. Women and children pick the grapes, which are removed in baskets by Gallegos (the inhabitants of Galicia), who carry them to the wine-press, where the juice is extracted by the pressure of men's feet. The must is placed in casks to ferment; and after this process has been gone through, the wine is transferred to large vats, where a second fermentation ensues. Great Britain is the great market for port wine, but a very small part of that which reaches the island is the pure produce of the grape. Certain regulations of the Portuguese government hamper the importer—no wine being permitted to leave the country without the sanction of a committee of persons, who only allow a strong, black, sweet wine to be exported. It is said to follow, that the best wines of the country are either kept back, or must be treated with brandy, elder-berries, &c., before they can obtain the necessary license. None of the beautiful white wines of the district reach this country; and wines which would rival the claret, Burgundy, &c., of other places, we never hear of. Of late years a disease has ravaged the grapes of Portugal, and the produce of wine has been greatly reduced. Previously the average annual produce of the Alto-Douro district amounted to between 80,000 and 90,000 pipes, of which about 28,000 pipes were exported. In 1854 Great Britain imported 22,800 pipes of port wine, that being about the average amount for the preceding ten years.

The length of Oporto along the river is nearly 3 miles, and its inhabitants amount to about 90,000. Many British merchants, chiefly connected with the wine trade, reside here; and there is a British consul, as well as an English chaplain and English medical men. The public conveyances consist of hackney coaches, bullock carriages, and a few omnibuses, connecting some of the neighbouring towns with Oporto. A railway is in contemplation between this place and Lisbon, but many years must elapse before such an expensive work can be completed. One of the chief wants of the kingdom is good internal communication by means of roads, but the impoverished state of the country is too great to allow of these being soon made.