Virtudes Promenade and Wall II

Outside the medieval city, on the west side of the Gothic wall, we find the Virtudes Promenade at the top of the slope that plunges into the Douro river. The first significant intervention certainly was the construction of the wall that supports the Promenade, in the last decades of the 18th century. The work was commissioned by Rodrigo António de Abreu e Lima, who was at the time Judge of Customs, and attributed to Francisco de Almada e Mendonça (1757-1804), Judge, Magistrate and Ombudsman of the Porto district who, like his father, promoted several public works in the city. The erection of the Virtudes fountain, which started in 1617 and finished in 1619, was followed by the opening of the avenue from which it can be accessed. Between 1786 and 1787 the Virtudes Wall was built, lending the space a monumental character.