Chapter 11

The Mouth
of the River

A photograph of the construction of the Luís I bridge between 1881 and 1886 welcomes us to the city of Oporto. A reference of modernity spanning the beauty of an eternal Douro. The women are busy washing clothes in these waters that have come from afar. Over nine hundred kms covered since Urbión Peaks, taking with it scraps of poems, romances and centuries of history.

Aurélio da Paz dos Reis

View of the waterfront with the Luís I bridge in the background

Oporto, c.a. 19101

Emilio Biel e Companhia

Construction of the Luís I bridge

Oporto. 1883

Arquivo Municipal do Porto

Artur Pastor

Washerwomen by the waters’ edge

Oporto. 1950-1970

Arquivo Municipal de Lisboa

Bain News Service

View of Oporto

1950-1970

Library of Congress

Artur Pastor

Washerwomen by the river

1950-1970

Arquivo Municipal de Lisboa

Arthur Bensabat Benarus

Vessels on the Douro

1910 ca.

Arquivo Municipal de Lisboa

Foz do Douro

We have completed our trip along the Douro, a river that Unamuno rebaptized Dorium-Duero-Douro, and that now comes to an end, merging inexorably into the immensity of the ocean. Calling to mind the verses of Jorge Guillén, we ask ourselves: Do you leave or take with you the days that are lost?

River with shorelines
of stories and myths:
Do you leave or take with you
the days that are lost?

Jorge Guillén
Cántico
1928

Aurélio da Paz dos Reis

Foz do Douro during the swimming season

1900

Centro Português de Fotografia

Aurélio da Paz dos Reis

Foz do Douro during the swimming season. Swimmers

1900

Centro Português de Fotografia

Dorium-
Duero-
Douro

At nearby Foz Oporto dreams
About the haughty Urbión;
Soria on its plateau top
With all the sea as a path.

Tree with mighty roots
Clinging to the soil of the fatherland,
the waters drink your leaves
the eternity of the reverie.

Miguel de Unamuno
"Dorium-Duero-Douro" [ending] Cien años de Poesía. Poetas contemporáneos en sus verso

The Mouth of the River

Foz do Douro

Dorium-Duero-Douro

The Mouth
of the River

Dorium-
Duero-
Douro