The Douro River is famous in Portugal for having a large part of its length, almost 900 km, vineyards and wineries that produce the prestigious Port wine. At its mouth, when it is almost over and meets the sea, the Douro gives up its north bank to the second largest Portuguese city, Porto, and on the south bank is the medium-sized city of Vila Nova de Gaia. Between the two, in addition to the famous and beautiful river, an emblematic bridge, known worldwide for its beauty and grandeur. That's what we're going to talk about in this article.
It is called Ponte D. Luis I or simply Ponte D. Luis as it is known in Portugal. Grand, the work began to be built in 1881 and had a pre-launch, with the completion of the upper and larger deck five years later, in 1886. Less than a year later, the work was completed. The D. Luis Bridge was built to replace an old suspension bridge that could no longer support the intense commercial movement between the two cities and the project chosen at the time was by Belgian Théophile Seyrig, a disciple of Gustave Eiffel.
The bridge is one of the best-known spots in both cities and also in Portugal. So beautiful and well-crafted, the project was presented in 1878, during the Universal Exhibition in Paris and ended up winning the grand prize at that year's edition. During this event, there was an important change in the original design, which determined that the future bridge would have not just one but two decks: one high above, level with the top of the two upper parts of Vila Nova de Gaia and the city of Porto and the other much lower, at the level of the existing streets in the part closest to the river.
The day after the bridge was inaugurated, November 1, 1886, a toll was introduced for anyone crossing it: five réis per person. The charge remained until January 1, 1944, almost 58 years later. Currently there is no cost to cross the bridge, except the cost of the metro ticket for those who want to cross the upper deck.
The structure of the Bridge is a true filigree made of cast iron. It is just over 385 meters long, with a maximum height of 172 meters and a minimum of 45 meters, in addition to its structure weighing just over three tons. Since 2005, the upper deck serves the metro line that connects the two cities and the lower deck is where cars and pedestrians circulate.
The D. Luis Bridge is located in the historic center of the city of Porto and in the area of the famous Wine Cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia and has been included in the area classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1996. It is certainly one of Portugal's postcards and serves as a link between the classic beauty of the city of Porto and the old Port wine cellars of Vila Nova da Gaia.