Tourist Attractions in Aveiro

About halfway between Oporto and Coimbra, the old port and fishing town of Aveiro is attractively situated on the east side of the Ria de Aveiro, a lagoon 47km/29mi long and up to 7km/4.5mi wide, well stocked with fish, with many branches and windings which earn it the local name of the pólipo aquático (sea polyp). Chief town of the district, Aveiro is the see of a bishop and one of Portugal's main west coast ports. The people of Aveiro and the surrounding area live chiefly from the production of salt, obtained from the salt-pans on the shores of the Ria de Aveiro, the gathering of seaweed for use as a fertiliser, and the manufacture of porcelain and ceramics, an industry established here in the early 19th C. As well as being an attractive town, Aveiro has magnificent beaches in the vicinity and fine alluvial countryside along the Ria de Aveiro.

History

In Roman times the town, then known as Talabriga, lay directly on the sea. In the course of time, however, alluvium brought down by the Rio Vouga built up a spit of land off the coast, leaving only a narrow channel to the sea, the Barra. The town thus acquired one of the most sheltered harbors on the west coast of the peninsula, and enjoyed a period of high prosperity in the 15th and 16th C. as a result of the voyages of discovery which set out from here. The town still preserves many fine old buildings dating from this period.

In 1575 a violent storm devastated the town and closed its outlet to the sea. The harbor was now landlocked and useless, and all attempts to reopen the passage to the sea were unsuccessful; the fishermen, deprived of their livelihood, migrated in the 18th C. to the new port of Vila Real de Santo António at the mouth of the Guadiana, founded by Pombal. A further storm in 1808 opened up the old channel to the sea, and this is now protected from silting-up by dikes and weirs. Aveiro harbor now ranks once again among the finest harbors in Portugal.

Townscape

Aveiro is often compared with Amsterdam or Venice, despite having only three canals, but the many medieval features it has managed to preserve do make it very attractive. This is due in no small measure to the barcos moliceiros and a canal trip on one of these boats shows Aveiro at its most appealing. On such a trip visitors can see some magnificent Art Nouveau buildings and house fronts decorated with beautiful azulejos (particularly attractive are the tiles in the railroad station).