Vila Nova de Gaia (; cel-x-proto, Cale), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in

Porto District The District of Porto ( pt, Distrito do Porto ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro and Viseu districts to the south, Br ...

in Norte Region,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It is located south of the city of

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

on the other side of the

Douro River The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...

. The city proper had a population of 178,255 in 2001. The municipality has an area of 168.46 km². and a total population of 302,295 inhabitants (2011), making it the most populous municipality in Norte Region. Gaia along with Porto and 12 other municipalities make up the commonly designated Porto Metropolitan Area. The city contains many cellars (locally known as "caves") where

port wine Port wine (also known as vinho do Porto, , or simply port) is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often ...

is stored and aged. These cellars have become a major tourist attraction.

History

Vila Nova de Gaia already existed under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

as the city of Cale. It developed most likely from a preexistent Celtic Castro, or Neolithic settlement. The origin of the name Cale (or Gale, since in Classical

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

there was not always a clear distinction between the letters "g" and "c") is likely Celtic, from the root "Gall-" with which Celts referred to themselves, similarly to Galicia,

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

. The river itself has a Celtic name,

Douro The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...

(Latinised Durus) after Celtic "dwr", deep water, water or river. In Roman times the bulk of the population probably lived south of the river Douro, and on the north side, there was a smaller settlement around the deep water port which now is the Ribeira neighbourhood of

. The name of Porto, in high medieval times

Portus Cale Portus Cale ( Latinised version for "Port of Cale", original Celtic name ''Callaici'', ''Cale'') was an ancient town and port in present-day northern Portugal, in the area of today's Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. The name of the town eventually inf ...

, thus stood for the harbour ("portus" in Latin) of the city of Cale. With the important trade of the river Douro, which is easily navigable up to the Régua deep inland, the Porto part of the city came to overgrow Cale, and became the most important part of town, where the Bishopric and the merchants were established. With the Moorish invasions in the eighth century, the ''de facto'' frontier between the Islamic state and the Christian one came to rest for a considerable period of time on the river Douro. With the constant raids and counter-raids, the town of Cale, or Gaia, was deserted and most of its inhabitants took refuge in Porto in the North side of the river. It is in this period, the tenth century, that the late medieval ''

Lenda de Gaia The ''Lenda de Gaia'' (Legend of Gaia) is a medieval Portuguese legend recorded in two manuscripts, the '' Livro Velho'' (1286/1290) and the '' Livro de Linhagens do Conde Dom Pedro'' (1340/1383), both of which are collections of aristocratic gen ...

'' (Legend of Gaia) is set. After the conquest and pacification of the southern side of the Douro river after 1035, with the exodus or expulsion of the Muslim populations, leaving behind semi-abandoned fertile lands, colonists from the north settled in exchange for better feudal contracts with the newly appointed lords. These migrants refounded the old city of Cale or Gaia under the name of Vila Nova de Gaia (new town of Gaia) around the old castle and ruins of "old Gaia". The name of the double city of Porto and Gaia was frequently referred to in contemporary documents as "villa de Portucale", and the county of the Kingdom of León which was centered on it was named

Condado Portucalense The County of Portugal ( pt, Condado de Portugal, Condado Portucalense, Condado de Portucale; in documents of the period the name used was Portugalia) refers to two successive medieval counties in the region around Braga and Porto, today corresp ...

. This county was eventually expanded and after gaining its independence, became the Kingdom of Portugal.

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 15 civil parishes ('' freguesias''): The parish Santa Marinha e São Pedro da Afurada contains the city centre of Vila Nova de Gaia.

Coat of arms and flag

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

consists of a grey crest with two golden-yellow bunches of grapes on the bottom with a black castle over the water, and with a person blowing the horn. The grapes intend to represent the city's connection with the wine industry, mainly Port wine, whose cellars are in the lower part of the city. The flag features the coat of arms on a field of eight wedges (

gyronny In heraldry, variations of the field are any of a number of ways that a field (or a charge) may be covered with a pattern, rather than a flat tincture or a simple division of the field. Blazoning of French adjectives Variations of the field p ...

) of alternating dark yellow and black, beginning with the north-northeast octant.

Leisure

Beaches

Vila Nova de Gaia is the Portuguese municipality with the highest number of Blue Flag beaches in 2009 and in 2010: 17 beaches along 17 km of seaside. Some popular beaches are: Miramar, Granja, Aguda, Valadares, Francelos,

Madalena Madalena is a feminine given name. It is a Portuguese form of Magdalene. It may refer to: People *Madalena Alberto, Portuguese actress, singer and composer * Madalena Boavida, East Timorese politician *Maddalena Casulana, (c. 1544–c. 1590), I ...

and Canidelo. Praia da Granja is a FEE Blue Flag beach in the parish of São Félix da Marinha. This area was a farm in the 18th century belong to the Grijó Monastery and used as a rest place of monks and priests.

Parks and gardens

* Gaia Biological Park () is the largest park in the city, with an area of 35 hectares. The Park established in 1983 as an environmental education center, features a 3 km walkway along with hundreds of species of animals and plants. * Opened in August 2005, the Lavandeira Park () is a place for leisure activities with a lake, pedestrian walks, picnic areas and theme gardens. It has an area of 11 hectares located in Oliveira do Douro. * Jardim do Morro ("Garden of the Hill") is a garden located in the parish of Santa Marinha, near the Sera do Pilar Monastery. It was established in 1927. There is a lake, a number of plant species including Tilias. * The Littoral Station of Aguda () is a show aquarium opened in 1999 on the beach of Aguda () in Arcozelo. The building designed by the architect João Paulo Peixoto includes 3 main sections: Fisheries Museum displaying fishery equipment; Aquarius demonstrating local aquatic fauna and flora, and the Department of Environmental Education and Scientific Research on marine ecology, fishery and aquaculture. * Local Nature Reserve of the Douro Estuary () is a small nature reserve established in 2007 with the aim of the protection of birds and landscape. There can be seen cormorants, herons, white

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

plover Plovers ( , ) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. Description There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel". The closely related lapwing subf ...

red knot The red knot or just knot (''Calidris canutus'') is a medium-sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the '' Calidris'' sandpipers, second only to the ...

s, various species of

seagulls Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, ...

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

s among many other birds throughout a year. São Paio Bay is a popular spot for bird watchers. There are also Dunes Park (), Botanical Park of Castelo (), Camelias Garden (), Streams of Gaia (), Maria Pia Bridge Park () in Vila Nova de Gaia. File:Parque Biologico de Gaia 02.JPG, Gaia Biological Park File:Jardim do Morro, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, 2012-05-09, DD 01.JPG, Jardim do Morro File:Reserva Natural da Foz do Douro.jpg, Nature Reserve of the Douro Estuary File:Praia Granja (Vila Nova de Gaia).jpg, Granja beach

Tourism

The city attracts a great number of tourists for its different points of interest and the wine cellars are considered to be a must-see in any trip to area of Porto.

Museums

House-Museum Teixeira Lopes, Diogo de Macedo Gallery () is a cultural center consisting of the house of the sculptor

António Teixeira Lopes António Teixeira Lopes (27 October 1866–21 June 1942) was a Portuguese sculptor. Life Teixeira Lopes was the son of sculptor José Joaquim Teixeira Lopes and started learning his art in his father's workshop. In 1882 he entered the Academ ...

and recently built Diogo de Macedo Galleries located in Vila Nova de Gaia. The building of the museum was constructed in 1895 by

and his brother José Teixeira Lopes as a residence and an atelier. The Master donated this property to the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia, and it was opened to the public as a house-museum in 1933. Diogo de Macedo Gallery was established in 1975 in a building annexed to Teixeira Lopes' atelier. The Art Galleries in the House-museum demonstrates works of Portuguese painters and sculptors, as well as pieces of pottery factories of Gaia, while Diogo de Macedo Galleries display the sculptural works of

Diogo de Macedo Diogo de Macedo (Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, 22 November 1889 – Lisbon, Portugal, 19 February 1959) was a Portuguese painter, sculptor, and writer. Sculpture Sculpted, among others, the busts of: *Antero de Quental ( 1929 ) * Sara Afonso ( ...

and his art collection consisting of decorative art examples from 16th-20th centuries. Solar dos Condes de Resende is a former manorial property which is now the headquarter of the Municipal House of Culture located in the village of Negrelos. Its construction dates back to the

Medieval Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire an ...

. In the 16th century, the property belonged to Tomé da Costa, a nobleman from Vila Nova de Gaia who served for the Kingdom during the period of the

Philippine dynasty The Philippine dynasty ( pt, dinastia filipina), also known as the House of Habsburg in Portugal, was the third royal house of Portugal. It was named after the three Habsburg Spanish kings, all named Philip (; , ), who ruled Portugal between 1 ...

. The building was also known as Quinta da Costa. The building has a semi-public chapel dedicated to São Tomé, a baroque garden with

camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controv ...

s and a large tank of stonework that receives water from the source of São Mamede in Serra de Canelas. There is also a statue dedicated to the writer

Eça de Queiroz José Maria de Eça de Queiroz (; 25 November 1845 – 16 August 1900) is generally considered to have been the greatest Portuguese writer in the realist style. Zola considered him to be far greater than Flaubert. In the London ''Observer'', ...

who fell in love with the daughter of the owner (4th Count of Resende) and married her (Emília de Castro Pamplona). After the City Council of Gaia purchased the property in 1984, it has been operating as Municipal House of Culture. There is a Documentation Center for History, Archaeology, Art and Anthropology, as well as a museum site with Azuaga Marciano Collection.

Gallery

Image:Apartment buildings of Mafamude, Vila Nova de Gaia.jpg, Apartment buildings in the parish of

Mafamude Mafamude is a former civil parish in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia Vila Nova de Gaia (; cel-x-proto, Cale), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region, Portugal. It is located south of the city of Po ...

Image:Senhordapedra.jpg, Beach in Miramar Image:El Corte Ingles 2 (Gaia).JPG, Metro next to

El Corte Inglés El Corte Inglés S.A. (), headquartered in Madrid, is the biggest department store group in Europe and ranks third worldwide. Its primary source of sales is from department stores, followed by internet sales. It is a family business, with most s ...

Image:Largo Soares dos Reis 5 (VN Gaia).JPG, Soares dos Reis Square Image:Igreja da Serra do Pilar - V. Noda de Gaia.jpg, Gaia at night Image:The_road_to_the_bridge_(7879109362).jpg, Gaia Image:Largo Soares dos Reis 2 (VN Gaia).JPG, Vila Nova de Gaia Image:Tower Plaza Regino Cruz2.jpg, Tower Plaza Regino, Gaia Image:Oporto-night.jpg, Vila Nova de Gaia Image:Vila Nova de Gaia house.jpg, Downtown Gaia Image:Vila Nova de Gaia from Ponte Luís I (3).JPG, Vila Nova de Gaia Image:Monte da Virgem, 2011.12.03.jpg, Vila Nova de Gaia TV Tower File:Estação Litoral da Aguda fachada.jpg, Littoral Station of Aguda Image:Ribeira - Entardecer.jpg, Vila Nova de Gaia Image:ISS-32 Nighttime image of Portugal featuring Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia.jpg, Porto Urban Area Image:Monte do Castelo (área do Castelo de Gaia).jpg, Vila Nova de Gaia Image:Rua Marques Sa Bandeira (VN Gaia).JPG, Gaia

Sister City

Vila Nova de Gaia is twinned with:

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the confl ...

, United States of America

Dunavarsány Dunavarsány is a town in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. Twin towns – sister cities Dunavarsány is twinned with: * Gemmingen, Germany (1997) * Slavec Slavec ( hu, Szalóc) is a village and municipality in the Rožňav ...

, Hungary

Notable people

* Maria Isabel Wittenhall van Zeller (1749–1819) a pioneer in the use of vaccination against

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

. *

António Soares dos Reis António Manuel Soares dos Reis (Vila Nova de Gaia, 14 October 1847 - Vila Nova de Gaia, 16 February 1889) was a Portuguese sculptor. Studies He first studied at the Portuense Academy of Fine Arts, where he graduated in sculpture in 1867. He st ...

(1847-1889) a Portuguese sculptor. *

(1866–1942) a Portuguese sculptor. *

Daniel Pina Cabral Daniel Pereira dos Santos de Pina Cabral (Vila Nova de Gaia, 27 January 1924 – Porto, 23 June 2008) was a Portuguese Anglican bishop. He was the ninth Bishop of Lebombo, Mozambique, from 1968 to 1976.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 197 ...

(1924–2008) an Anglican bishop,

Bishop of Lebombo The Diocese of Lebombo (pt. ''Diocese Anglicana dos Libombos'') is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola. It is one of the three Anglican dioceses of Mozambique. This diocese is the most southerly of the three, the others being ...

, Mozambique, 1968 to 1976 * António Pires Veloso (1926–2014) an Army General, overseas Governor & political candidate *

António Reis António Ferreira Gonçalves dos Reis, known as António Reis (27 August 1927 – 10 September 1991), was a Portuguese film director, screenwriter and producer, poet, sculptor and ethnographer. He was married to Margarida Cordeiro, co-director ...

(1927–1991) a film director, screenwriter and producer, poet, sculptor and ethnographer. * Maria Alberta Menéres (1930–2019) a Portuguese author, children's writer, journalist and poet. * Bruce Duncan Guimaraens (1935–2002) a Portuguese-British port wine maker. *

António Pinho Vargas António Pinho Vargas (born Vila Nova de Gaia, August 15, 1951) is a Portuguese composer and pianist specializing in jazz and contemporary music. He has also written books, essays, and articles on music. Career Having obtained a degree in history ...

(born 1951) a jazz and contemporary music composer and pianist *

Paulo Rangel Paulo Artur dos Santos Castro de Campos Rangel (born 18 February 1968 in Vila Nova de Gaia) is a Portuguese jurist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2009. He al ...

(born 1968) a Portuguese jurist, politician and MEP since 2009. * Dalila Carmo (born 1974) a Portuguese actress. Dalila Carmo, IMDb Database
*

Sónia Rocha Sónia Maria Campos Soares da Rocha, usually referred to as Professor Sónia Rocha, is a Portuguese cell biologist who holds a personal chair in biochemistry at the University of Liverpool, where she is the head of the Department of Biochemistry ...

(born ca.1975) a cell biologist and academic at

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

Sport

* João Pinto (born 1961) a retired footballer with 408 club caps and 70 for

. * José Tavares (born 1966) a retired footballer with 294 club caps and 8 for

. *

Vítor Baía Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH (; born 15 October 1969) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time, his career was intimately connected with FC Porto, which he started re ...

(born 1969) a retired football goalkeeper with 447 club caps and 80 for

. * Basílio Almeida (born 1971) a footballer with 499 club caps * António Folha (born 1971) a footballer with 337 club caps and 26 for

& current manager. *

Rui Jorge Rui Jorge de Sousa Dias Macedo de Oliveira (born 27 March 1973), known as Rui Jorge, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a left-back, currently manager of the Portugal national under-21 team. In a 15-year professional career he ...

(born 1973) a retired footballer with 324 club caps and 45 for

. * Fernando Jorge Tavares de Oliveira (born 1975), known as ''Bock,'' a retired footballer with 635 club caps *

Artur Soares Dias Artur Manuel Ribeiro Soares Dias (born 14 July 1979) porquista fruteiro corrupto filho da puta a dias is a Portuguese football referee who is a listed international referee for FIFA and UEFA since 2010. After having accompanied his countryman ...

(born 1979) a football referee with FIFA & UEFA since 2010. * Ricardo Costa (born 1981) a footballer with 458 club caps and 22 for

. *

Lenine Cunha Lenine Cunha (born 4 December 1982) is a Paralympic athlete from Portugal who competes in T20 classification long jump and triple jump events. Cunha represented Portugal at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, in both the long jump The ...

(born 1982) a Paralympic athlete, competed in the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

* Luís Monteiro (born 1983) a former free-style swimmer, competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics *

Bruno Vale Bruno Miguel Esteves do Vale (born 8 April 1983) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent most of his professional career in Cyprus with Apollon Limassol after being formed at Porto, appearing in more than 300 comp ...

(born 1983) a retired football goalkeeper with 476 club caps and one for

. * Vanessa Fernandes (born 1985) a triathlete and silver medallist at the 2008 Summer Olympics *

André Gomes André Filipe Tavares Gomes (; born 30 July 1993) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lille, on loan from club Everton. He played three years at Benfica, where he won the domestic tr ...

(born 1993) with over 200 club caps and 29 for

. *

Ivo Oliveira Ivo Emanuel Alves Oliveira (born 5 September 1996) is a Portuguese racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He competed in the points race at the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. His twin brother, Rui Oliveira, is als ...

Rui Oliveira Rui Filipe Alves Oliveira (born 5 September 1996) is a Portuguese cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He competed in the scratch event at the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. His twin brother, Ivo Oliveira, is also an in ...

(twins, born 1996) Portuguese racing cyclists

References

External links

Photos from Vila Nova de Gaia

Gaia Extra - Local news site about Vila Nova de Gaia

Gaia The Magic City - Local Social Network
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vila Nova De Gaia Municipalities of Porto District Cities in Portugal