Porto - Casa Oriental

Porto is with a population of about 250.000 the largest city in Northern Portugal. In "Greater Porto", the metropolitan area, live even more than 1.7 million people.

The historical center of Porto was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Port wine is named after Porto, since the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia on the southern banks of the river Douro are the centers for packaging, transport and export of the fortified wine. Some years ago I had been here for a couple of days before I started the "Camino Portugues" here.

Portugal has a long colonial history and Porto has had an important harbour where ships unloaded the goods from the colonies in South America and Africa. The "Casa Oriental" was founded in 1910 and offered coffe, tea and chocolades in the early year. Meanwhile Portuguese products are offered, sweets, sausages, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, olives and bacalao (stockfish).

www.casaoriental.pt/base.asp