The city was built along the hillsides overlooking the mouth of the
Douro river, is an outstanding urban landscape with a 2,000-year
history. Its continuous growth, linked to the sea, can be seen in the
many and varied monuments, from the cathedral with its Romanesque choir,
to the neoclassical Stock Exchange and the typically Portuguese
Manueline-style Church of Santa Clara.
The Committee of UNESCO decided to inscribe the
The Committee of UNESCO decided to inscribe the
nominated
property on the basis of cultural criterion (iv) considering that the
site is of outstanding universal value as the urban fabric and its many
historic buildings bear remarkable testimony to the development over the
past thousand years of a European city that looks outward to the west
for its cultural and commercial links.
Archaeological excavations nave revealed that there has been human occupation on the site of modern Oporto, at the mouth of the Douro River, since the 8th century BC, when there was a Phoenician trading settlement there, taking advantage of the access to the Interior afforded by the river. The Romans established a town there in the 1st century BC, under the name of Portus (= the port). And eventually centuries later gave the country it's name -> PORTUGAL
Font: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/755
Archaeological excavations nave revealed that there has been human occupation on the site of modern Oporto, at the mouth of the Douro River, since the 8th century BC, when there was a Phoenician trading settlement there, taking advantage of the access to the Interior afforded by the river. The Romans established a town there in the 1st century BC, under the name of Portus (= the port). And eventually centuries later gave the country it's name -> PORTUGAL
Font: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/755
