Matosinhos

On the Atlantic side of Porto, Matosinhos is the city where the metropolis meets the sea: a working fishing port, a wide urban beach, and restaurant grills smoking with sardines along the avenue — the city even brands itself the home of the world’s best fish.

A fishing town grown into a city

The town grew from an old monastery at Bouças and from its fishing fleet, chartered by King Manuel in 1514 and raised to a city in 1984; its port of Leixões, dug into the coast, is Portugal’s second artificial harbour. The devotion of the Senhor de Matosinhos, a crucified Christ venerated here since the Middle Ages, made the town a pilgrimage centre whose fame crossed the Atlantic to Brazil, and the baroque sanctuary by Nasoni keeps the pilgrimage alive today.

Fish, surf and sea air

The wide beach by the port is the metro area’s favourite for surf lessons, and the promenade runs south to the lighthouse and the sculpted steel clouds of She Changes by Janet Echelman. The restaurants along the avenue grill sardines and serve the day’s catch from the fish auction; inland, the gothic monastery of Leça do Balio and the Roman salting tanks at Angeiras carry the older story. Down the coast, the lagoon city of Aveiro keeps its Aveiro Canals.

What to see

• The fishing port and the fish auction of Leixões
• The sanctuary of the Senhor de Matosinhos
• The beach, surf schools and the promenade
• She Changes, the giant steel sculpture by the shore
• The gothic monastery of Leça do Balio

Practical information

Matosinhos lies immediately west of Porto, linked to the city by metro and by the coast road. Lunch is the fish hour: arrive before the queues, bring a windbreaker for the Atlantic front, and check the official websites before setting out.

Image credit: Matosinhos DSC 0001 by Pedro Caetano — CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

For the beach and its surf, see Matosinhos Beach.