Puente Dom Luiz I (Dom Luiz I Bridge)

Nineteenth century charm.

The Ribeira offers privileged views over the city’s most charismatic walkway, the Dom Luiz I bridge, which unites this picturesque quarter with the opposite bank of Vila Nova de Gaia and its coveted wine cellars. Designed in 1877 by Teófilo Seyrig (who was a disciple of Eiffel… yes, the one who designed the famous tower in Paris!), and comes across as very imposing with its dual level and intricate ironwork, which lends a nineteenth century touch to the set-up.3, 000 tons of metal were needed to produce this fantastic bridge structure, the most crossed in all Porto. It possesses a great central arch with two walkways in the upper part: the metro crosses over the highest of them, which is 392 metres long, with the lower one 174 metres long and allowing vehicle transit.Pedestrains, for their part, cross on the higher up footways. If you visit in summer, don’t let it surprise you to see the most fearless jumping from the bridge’s lower level- which is 47 metres up- in order to take a dip in the Duero!