Porto Historical Center
The Historic Center of Porto developed from a small nucleus located on the Cathedral hill, which documents a human occupation dating back to the first millennium BC. The successive occupations brought together the most varied social and economic interests, which were expanding and modifying the city.
A place of great aesthetic value, the historic center of Porto presents an urban fabric and countless historical buildings that bear witness to its development over more than a thousand years. A masterpiece of human creativity, its harmonious articulation of streets with the surrounding space and especially with the Duero River and Vila Nova de Gaia, presents a visual unity that gives it one of its most important aspects, its panoramic character.
It is a living organism, integrated into an active area of the city, which has managed to be recognized as an "exceptional universal value" that deserves special protection and valorization.
