Vistas sobre o Rio Douro a partir de Miragaia

Along the high levelling that was made in order to level the Rua Nova da Alfãndega Street runs the typical Miragaia Street, bellow the level of the main street, with its houses laid on arcades. This zone is one of the most interesting areas of Porto and where you can see buildings with signs from the XV and XVI centuries as well as many others from the XVII and XVIII centuries. Of those streets, we point out three: Viela da Baleia, name that remembers the mandible of a wale that used to be there; Ancira Street (right in front of the church), toponym connected to Ancara ou Angorá; Atafona Street (from the Arabic Tamane – mill – or the Hebraic Tahane – millstone) which remembers the old flour-mill. This area was, since always, flooded by the overflow of the Douro River, forcing the residents to leave their houses by the back or by boat.
This is where you will find the most ancient fountain of the city, the Colher Fountain.