OPORIO, or Porto, a city of Portugal, usually considered as the northern capital of that kingdom, and one of the most important commercial places of the peninsula. It is situated in the province Entre Douro and Minho, at the mouth of the latter river. The land near the mouth of the river is generally low, but the city, being situated on an elevation on the northern bank, may be descried at the distance of four or five leagues, by a remarkably black steeple, called Los Clerigos, which rises in the middle of it. On approaching the bar, the town and castle of St John de Foz are seen upon low land, near the mouth of the river, with a lighthouse, lighted every night. On the northern point of the castle of St John de Foz a ledge of rocks extends towards the south-west, some of them above water; and without these, on the opposite side, is a similar ledge. This formation renders the entrance difficult without much previous knowledge, especially as with winds from the south-west and the north-west a heavy sea sets in along the coast. The bar of the Douro is liable to alterations of its position from gales of wind, which makes it the more necessary to take a pilot, a matter not difficult, as there are plenty of fishermen perfectly competent, who are ready to act in that capacity. When vessels have passed the bar they are in a state of security, except at periods when, after a heavy fall of rain, such torrents rush down the Douro as to raise the water from thirty to forty feet in a few hours. These freshes, as they are called, have also a great influence in changing the position of the bar. The vessels that are intended for the harbour of Oporto should not, however, draw more than sixteen feet water.

As this city gives name to the whole kingdom of which it forms the second capital, a short sketch of its history may be appropriate. It is first noticed in the itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus, in the year A. D. 160, under the name Cago or Gaia, but was then on the opposite bank of the river, and defended the passage over it against the forces of Viriato. When the Goths, Vandals, Alans, and Suevi had overrun France and Spain, and attained the end of their career, the Alans entered Lusitania, and established their capital in this city, which they adorned and fortified, giving it the name of Castrum Novum, to distinguish it from Cale or Caya, the ancient part, on the opposite bank of the river, called Castrum Antiquum. This part of Lusitania was seized upon, about the year 540, by the Arian Goths, under their King Leovogiklo, who put to the sword all who refused to embrace his opinions, and, as has been said, amongst others his own son. The Goths maintained their dominion till the invasion of the Moors in 716, when Abdulhassan overran all Galicia, and possessed himself of the whole country up to the river Douro. It fell again into the hands of the Christians, when again the Moorish chieftain Abderrahman, attacked the Catholic King Alfonso I. in 820. A desperate battle was fought at Campanha, in which the Moors were defeated, and many of them driven into the river Tinto; and a part of the city whence the Christians issued to the contest still retains the name of Batalha. Another Moorish chief subsequently conquered the city, and retained his power within it till 1092, when some Gascon kυights, under the command of Don Alfonso Fredriquez, finally subdued the Moors; since which it has been retained by the Christians, and followed the fortune of the rest of Portugal.

Oporto is about two miles from the mouth of the river, on the right bank, from which it rises abruptly by an ascent, in some parts attained by a flight of 140 steps. It occupies a valley and several hills, which render some of the streets very steep. Its back or north part rests upon rocky heights, in which are quarries of granite that have yielded the stone with which the city has been built. There are many magnificent and spacious streets, well paved for foot passengers, with some fine churches, convents, and other public buildings; and these are interspersed with numerous gardens, abounding with flowers and beautiful shrubs, which give an air of great beauty to the whole place. The most remarkable edifices, as in most Catholic cities, are those devoted to religious purposes, as churches, convents, and monasteries. The most striking are very magnificently ornamented. The cathedral is a superb building, which was constructed in 1112, by Count Henrique de Porto, and the ascent to the choir is by a fine broad marble staircase. The collegiate church of Cedo∙ feita is the next in celebrity. It is a purely Gothic structure, built in the year 559, and was left untouched by the Moors, having been redeemed from destruction by a noble family of the name of Connigos, who paid a yearly tribute for its preservation. The church of Misericodia, built in the year 1555, belongs to a corporate body, which relieves misery of all kinds, takes care of more than 2000 sick, maintains 900 foundlings, and buries those whose friends cannot afford to do so. The church of the Clerigos, built in 1748, stands at the top of a fine wide street called Calcada de Natividade. It is a superb building, most beautifully ornamented, and has a tower, before noticed, the most lofty in the kingdom, if not in Europe, which may be seen from the sea at the distance of several leagues. The other parochial churches are St Nicoao, said to be the richest, St Victoria, St Ildefonso, Santa Marinha, in Villa Nova; San Pedro; MiragayaTerco e Ca-ridade, which is connected with a good hospital; Nosso Venhor de Bom Fim; St Pedro Gonsalvez, appropriated to the seamen; Bon Jesus de Gaya, and Señora de Lapa. Besides these, there are about eighty chapels, some of them elegantly fitted up, in which the public religious worship is celebrated. There were twelve monasteries, containing no less than 380 monks; but some of them were destroyed during the siege of Oporto by Dorn Miguel, and others suffered severely. There were five convents, which contained about 340 nuns of different orders, besides numerous females who resided in them under the tuition of the nuns.

There are few cities in Europe in which the charitable institutions are more numerous than in Oporto. The public hospitals especially are extensive establishments. The principal of them is the Hospital Real, which is built of granite, and has the appearance of a palace, and is remarkable not more for its extent and grandeur than for the great number of patients which are relieved in it; they are attended by the best physicians and surgeons, both English and Portuguese, and are supplied with the best medicines, dispensed not only to the sick in the house, but also to out-door patients at half price. Of a less extent are the foundling hospital, two for unfortunate and poor females, one for beggars, one for poor old women, one for the English, and three upon a small scale distinguished by the names of St Sylva, San Crispin, and San Francesco da Carma.

This city suffered severely during the long siege which commenced in December 1833, and continued till August 1834. It was a period of severe misery to the inhabitants, as well from the constant fire kept up against the
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town, as fiom the scarcity of food, fuel, and other necessaries. I he army of Dorn Miguel had surrounded the city with works, which extended in a circuit of nearly fourteen miles, and from the forts on those lines kept up a cannonade and bombardment. The effect of the former was to make an impression upon the works of Dorn Pedro, and that of the latter to destroy whatever was destructible in the houses of the inhabitants, and in the public buildings. The churches were spared by the assailants as far as their position did not interfere with the military operations. Both the public and the private buildings are constructed of massy blocks of stone, and have little combustible matter in their composition. Thus, though the windows, the decorations, and the furniture of many buildings, were much injured or destroyed, and more than sixteen thousand of the civic inhabitants killed, there was but little damage done to the interior appearance of the place; and as far as that was concerned, a very short period witnessed the restoration of the city to its former beauty. Within two years after the termination of the siege the inhabitants had in a great degree returned to those mercantile pursuits and habits which have long distinguished the city.

Oporto, in a national view, is a commercial place of the greatest importance, being the channel by which the most valuable produce of the soil of Portugal is distributed to other countries. That soil is peculiarly favourable to the growth of a strong red wine, highly relished in England, and not much esteemed in any other part of the world. It is produced from a grape originally transported from Burgundy to the banks of the Douro, whence it has spread throughout the province of Tras os Montes and the interior and higher grounds of the province Entre Douro and Minho. From the growers the wines are collected by merchants of Oporto, and preserved in large quantities till they are shipped for the markets of consumption. The best of the wines formed the subject of a monopoly to a privileged company, who possessed the right of pre-emption of a limited number of pipes before the general buyers were allowed to make their contracts. That monopoly has been abolished, a circumstance which has given a new direction to the internal trade; but the sufferings occasioned by the siege are still felt, and this, with the change of system, has made it difficult to prognosticate what may be the future condition of the wine trade in this city. One thing is certain, however, that as long as the taste for port wine continues in Great Britain as it has hitherto done, the trade of Oporto must be of the greatest importance to the kingdom of Portugal.

An Account of the number of Pipes of Wine shipped at Oporto from 1824 to 1833, distinguishing those to the British dominioris from those to all other countries.

Of the number of pipes, 49,575, sent to other countries than Great Britain in these ten years, Brazil took 28,261, the other parts of South America 8944, whilst North America, the whole of Europe, India, and Africa, took only 12,370 pipes, of which Hamburg alone received 5573. This statement shows to what an extent the north of Portugal is dependent upon the consumption of Great Britain for the chief product of its soil. A duty is collected from the wine, both on its transport from the interior, and on its exportation to foreign countries. The amount varies with the kind and quality of the wine, and is often subject to considerable fluctuation.

The other exports from Oporto consist of oil, oranges, figs, and various fruits, wool, refined sugar, cream of tartar, shumac, leather, and cork. The imported articles are, corn, rice, and other provisions; sugar and coffee from Brazil; cotton and woollen goods, hardware, tin plates,butter, and cheese, from Great Britain and Ireland; and hemp, flax, deals, and other timber, from Norway or the Baltic. It is said that a large portion of the British cottons and woollens imported at this place are for the purpose of being carried into Spain through Braganza and other frontier towns, by means of the contraband trade.

The manufactures of the city suffered exceedingly by the siege, but are now reviving. The sugar refineries are considerable; gold and silver lace is made, and also some hosiery. Cotton and linen weaving gives some occupation, as do the making of glass and paper. Though the population was reduced by the siege, it is now rapidly recovering its former state, and, by the latest calculation, amounts to about 80,000. Though somewhat cold in the winter, and therefore not so much visited by invalids as Lisbon, Oporto is generally considered as a more healthy city. The latitude, by accurate observation, is 41. 11. 15. N. the longitude 8. 8. 22. west from London.