Guide to the Liberal Cause in the city of Porto was released on 2nd July

The guide "Porto Liberal: Arquiteturas, Sítios e Memórias" [Porto Liberal: Architectures, Sites and Memories", free translation], is an historical work that describes the role of the city in affirming Liberalism in the course of the nineteenth century.

The book features texts by authors linked to the Rota Porto Liberal and includes photographs by Sérgio Jacques. The guide was released on 2nd July, at the Quartel de Santo Ovídeo, located at Praça da República, stage of the military pronouncement two hundred years ago, alongside the political movements at Porto City Hall, which led to the Liberal Revolution in Porto, on 24th August.

Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira attended the official book release ceremony and highlighted the importance of such work in the same year that the Municipality marks the Liberal Revolution Bicentennial, which due to the ongoing pandemic, had to be readjusted.

The guide suggests four routes, in-between streets and squares, sites and monuments, landscapes and collections, where the traveller is transported to the Porto of the nineteenth century, when two brothers were at war - Dom Miguel I nicknamed The Absolutist and D. Pedro nicknamed "the Liberator" or "the Soldier King".

The Siege of Porto is one of such moments ingrained in History and are telling of the character of a people: The Siege of Porto is considered the period between July 1832 and August 1833 in which the troops of Dom Pedro remained besieged by the forces of Dom Miguel I of Portugal. 

The resistance of the city of Porto and the troops of Dom Pedro made the victory of the liberal cause in the Kingdom of Portugal possible. It was 13 months, from July of 1832 to August of the following year that marked the city forever. In addition to material damages and loss of human life, this period of history gave Porto the title of "antiga, Mui Nobre, Sempre Leal e Invicta Cidade do Porto" (old, very noble, always loyal and invicta Porto) attributed by D. Pedro as a form of gratitude for the loyalty and courage with which the Porto residents defended the liberal cause. The king would even offer his heart to the city as a form of giving thanks.

Those that fought in the Siege of Porto on the Liberal side include Almeida Garrett, Alexandre Herculano and Joaquim António de Aguiar.

The city's toponymy evokes this time and a war between two brothers with opposing convictions. "Bairro do Cerco do Porto", "Rua do Heroísmo" (Heroism, in memory of a bloody battle that took place there) or "Rua da Firmeza" (Firmness) are names that perpetuate "the dignity and resignation with which the Porto residents valiantly resisted".

The "PORTO LIBERAL Route"

The "PORTO LIBERAL Route" was announced in 2016 and implemented in 2017 to understand the importance of the city of Porto in the Liberal Wars, also known as the Portuguese Civil War, the War of the Two Brothers (D. Pedro and D. Miguel), or Miguelite War, which opposed progressive constitutionalists and authoritarian absolutists in Portugal over royal succession, from 1828 to 1834.

The main aim of this route is to inform about the most iconic places, buildings, streets, landscapes, and memories of the always very noble and loyal unvanquished city of Porto and that are part of that period in Portuguese History.

Thus, six institutions of the city are committed to establishing a Liberal Route of the city of Porto, namely the Venerable Brotherhood of Nossa Senhora da Lapa, promoter of the idea, Porto City Hall, Military Museum of Porto (Portuguese Army), Directorate General of Cultural Heritage, Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto (Museum and Church) and Regional Directorate of Culture of the North.

All these entities have signed a protocol in order to promote an active historic revisiting of that time in History, when Porto rescued the nation. The document was signed at Brotherhood of Nossa Senhora da Lapa, where the heart of D. Pedro IV (I of Brazil), the Soldier King and symbol of Portuguese Liberalism is laid down.