Sketch Tour set off to discover the north of Portugal and visited four World Heritage sites: the historic centres of Porto and Guimarães, the Douro Valley and the Foz Côa Archaeological Park.

The hosts were two sketchers from different cultures, Mário Linhares, Portuguese, and Benedetta Dossi, Italian, who found they had more things in common than differences and were inspired by what "Portugal has the best of: food, sun, monuments, landscape and, obviously, people.”

PORTO
In Porto, they strolled around the old narrow streets of the Baixa (‘downtown’ area) and visited some of the city's points of interest, such as the Palácio da Bolsa (former stock exchange palace), the Ribeira, the Clérigos Tower, the new neighbourhood of Rua Cândido dos Reis and Galeria de Paris, Avenida dos Aliados, Rua Santa Catarina, Casa da Música, Serralves Contemporary Art Museum, Foz and the Vila Nova de Gaia wine lodges.

Ribeira

©Mário Linhares


©Benedetta Dossi

Torre dos Clérigos

©Benedetta Dossi


©Mário Linhares

Palácio de Cristal ©Mário Linhares


Casa da Música ©Benedetta Dossi


Museu de Serralves ©Mário Linhares


Vila Nova de Gaia

©Benedetta Dossi


©Mário Linhares

Matosinhos

©Benedetta Dossi


©Mário Linhares

GUIMARÃES
A city with a glorious past, linked to the founding of Portugal - Guimarães was the birthplace of Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal. It has unique urban features of mediaeval origin, which justified its classification as a World Heritage by UNESCO. In addition to the historic centre, the Castle and the Ducal Palace are must-see sites and were sources of inspiration for the sketchers.


©Benedetta Dossi


©Mário Linhares

VALE DO DOURO (Douro Valley) 
The Alto Douro Vinhateiro (Upper Douro wine-producing area) is the oldest demarcated region in the world. This is where port wine and Douro wines are made. On this walk along the banks of the river, there was time to draw the dramatic landscape of the Douro Valley and to enjoy some of the gastronomic delights of the region, where wine always has a special place on the menu.

©Mário Linhares


©Benedetta Dossi

PARQUE ARQUEOLÓGICO DO VALE DO COA (Foz Côa Archaeological Park)
The visit to one of the most important pre-historic rock art sites in the world, outdoors, started with a trip to the Museum where they began to unravel the mysteries of Palaeolithic art. In this artistic sanctuary, the engravings of Foz Côa, thousands of years old, were a stimulating inspiration for the drawings of the Urban Sketchers.

©Mário Linhares


©Benedetta Dossi