Porto. Not like everything else. Ode to the city or an UNCOMMON TOUR into the history of Portugal.

I will tell you about Porto. I will tell you about a gray-haired granite man filled with northern spirit, located on the land that was once extremely unsuitable for life, a city inhabited by real Portuguese (however, we will try to find out what “real Portuguese” is throughout all following articles, as this topic has not been revealed up to this day) , the Portuguese, whose faces are often framed by red beards, whose skin color is sometimes pale white. A city where women who are very short and tiny are stronger and more belligerent than their men, in whose families ancient pagan cults and traditions are still honored. Yes, today that very day when I tell you about the city to which I gave my heart forever (although knowing the history of Pedro’s heart resting in the Lapa Igreja, perhaps I should be more careful with my thoughts and especially words), I did it not by stupidity, not for the sake of emotions, but quite consciously. And I had every right to do so, I will tell you frankly, behind my back are 10 years of living in Canada, childhood in insane Moscow and have been in almost every historically or culturally significant city in Europe. I saw a lot, but once in Porto, as I found out later — the city of my dreams, I realized that I did not see anything. Our meeting with Porto was a replica of the comical acquaintance of Jay and Kay in the first part of Man In Black. I was just allowed to enter inside of what at first glance was an ordinary building, and Porto opened its wide doors to me and whispered in my ear:

• Of course, you have seen everything and you know a lot, but at the present moment everything that you have seen and all your knowledge equals an absolute zero.

What followed after was my open mouth, tears in my eyes, intoxication to all that I see, the thought that my dreams finally came true.
But, of course, not about everything, but about what can be said — in order.

The three rules of Porto

I will not go into the details of me getting hitting the “top ten” with the move to Porto, we will leave all the stories about the magical journey of the cultural historian in the mystical land of Portugal for later.

Now, I see it as extremely important and necessary to systematize the madness that is going on in my heart and soul, to systematize and in ready-made form to give to you, those who are going to Porto, who may be planning to move here, who are just interested or who just left this city, but wants to return or refresh their memories. We will begin with the three very simple but very important rules, the fulfilment of which is absolutely necessary so that Porto reveals its true face to you at least for a moment. Failure to complete at least one of these rules guarantees you the status of a tourist who will see, and most importantly, will feel only what is written by the spirits of the city of Porto for all “not it’s own”.
So receive it and sign for it. The keys to INVICTA.

Rule One

Forget everything you know about city life. Get rid of everything that you were told about Portugal and the Portuguese, completely erase the entire database if there is one and feel like a stupid baby that was first put on his feet, and he did it in the coolest Children’s Toy store of all the existing ones.
You know nothing about the Portuguese, and most of those who will convince you of their knowledge of this nation will be mercilessly mistaken and pretty much fool themselves.
The thing is that even the Portuguese themselves know little about it. Even local historians and archaeologists are in an extremely difficult position regarding their own history and roots. On the territory of modern Portugal throughout the history of mankind, one after another, civilizations, cultures, beliefs and traditions alternated. Here were the Celts, the Moors and the Visigoths, Lousas and Romans, and even the Alans somehow hobbled to here. The genetic background of the modern Portuguese is a kind of Rubik’s cube, only designed not by a genius Rubik, but by the insane consciousness of someone much more sophisticatedly smart. Layer by the layer, like a grandmother’s cake assembled from round waffles and smeared with condensed milk — that is what Portuguese today, in my opinion the main and most unsolvable riddle for any historian. So first of all I will tell you — you do not know the Portuguese and you do not know Portugal, even if everything seems tells diffent to you.

Arriving in Porto with certain expectations (most of my guests come here, full of expectations and comparative epithets) you will not under any circumstances see the real Porto, because most likely the city will not have time to meet your expectations because the first few days Porto will just look closely to you, listen to your thoughts, watch your movements.

Do not forget, Porto is INVICTA, Undefeated city, and it opens its gates only to those who have passed the test and now considered as safe. Well, this is the classic medieval method of preventive safety. So forget everything you know, you know nothing. This is the first rule.

Rule Two

From the first rule with a logical stream follows the second rule. Everything here is a little different from what it seems at first glance. Living in the modern world we get used to focus on labels, our attention is directed only to the search for familiar characteristics, features, we are only attracted to those things that we either heard about or that we had to face in one way or another. We speak of ourselves as people who are open to everything new, but in reality the new scares us no less than Bluebeard legend in childhood.
Perhaps it is precisely because of the inner fear of realizing something unknown thats why many try to label shortcuts that are available to their experience in Portugal. Maybe. One way or another, neither Portugal, nor specifically the city of Porto is what it seems at first glance.
Here we are getting to the main, so to speak, key issues concerning Portugal: what is Portugal, who are the Portuguese, and specifically — what kind of a city is Porto?
We will certainly analyze the phenomenology of Portuguese self-awareness in future articles, but here I would just like to touch the dark whirlpool of history slightly, so as not to disturb those who dwell under the impassive water surface.

There are three Portugal in one Portugal (weird is it?), one adjacent to the other, everything we have here is very closely and pretty tight. The North of the country is true, original Portugal that has preserved its traditions, architecture, mentality and all the old habits of the Nordic times. Yes, it is the Nords, and to be more precise — the Celts who are the progenitors and blacksmiths of the history of the northern part of Portugal. Hence, the specific cuisine and many well-preserved castros in the Porto suburbs, and even the light skin color of the local indigenous people — is also a peculiar “hello” through the centuries from the Celts. Mentally, the Portuguese inhabiting the northern part of the country are fundamentally different from those that live in its central and even more so, the southern part. This is very much felt in all aspects of communication and interaction — people here are more reliable, less friendly at first, but in the process of communication they reveal themselves as infinitely open and warm, ready to always come to the rescue and share their goods. Is it an echo of a Celtic soul hidden somewhere in the labyrinth of Portuguese DNA? I am sure the answer is yes, because there is at least one good reason for this — the Moors were driven out of here as quickly as possible, having held out on the harsh northern land for less than 100 years, which to some extent guaranteed the genome preservation.
This can not be said about the second Portugal — its central part, which includes Lisbon and the adjacent territories at a distance of about 150–220 km in all directions. The Moorish rule has been here for more than 600 years, and this is extremely noticeable on closer examination as the local population with their communication culture, traditions and, in part, architecture incorporating various elements of the Arab tradition. In central Portugal, the Portuguese themselves will be slightly darker than in the north, the mentality will also be slightly different (we will talk more about this in the next articles), the cousine and many small features of life will also have little in common with the north.

Well, going all the way down, in the direction of Faro and the Algarve, we find ourselves in the third Portugal — almost fully Arabic one. Looking closely at the architecture, you will see a mirror image of snow-white Morocco, people here will have very dark skin color, mentally they will share many similarities with Arabs, this will be manifested both in traditions (over the centuries unconditionally mixed with Portuguese) and in relations between people. With all this, do not forget, these are all the same Portuguese, who have Lusas, Alans, Celts, Visigoths, Romans in their roots, and it is possible that someone else too who is completely unexpected at this time. For now at least. The Arab influence here is as fresh as the whiff of the monsoon on which all the voyages of those great Portuguese, to whom we owe so much today, depended.
This is Portugal, which has nothing to do with any other country on this planet, the Portuguese are not Spanish, not some southern people, moreover, their history is so great and unique that I dare to assume that they were really in an exceptional manner in God’s hands, because the mechanism by which these brave, sometimes reckless people managed to do so much in their history is not clear to me or to any other historian, no matter what anyone may say and whatever facts and factors they rely on.

So, returning to our second rule, remember — Portugal is not what it seems to be in fact, the Portuguese are not those who seem to most of the guests of this country. Do not try to understand, do not even try to dive into this pool, to see the truth through the dark waters of which you will not succeed under any circumstances.

Relax, leave prejudices and enjoy the contact with one of the greatest countries on Earth, with an unparalleled culture in terms of mixing different historical layers. Remember, you are in Porto, but you have never seen anything like Porto in your life. This city is not like anything, just as the Portuguese themselves are not like anyone.

Rule Three

Rule number three is as simple as it can be and serves as the main tool for the successful completion of our alchemical process of connecting with Portugal and specifically with the city of Porto. I will reveal to you one of the main secrets that I managed to learn during my 32 year old journey across the lands of this amazing world. It was told to me by a one beautiful soul, and I am immensely grateful to her. Now it’s time to open it to you, my dear readers. Ready?

This is a very simple exercise that allows you to break free from the clutches of illusion and everything that keeps us from getting real joy from what happens to us. Exercise is applicable in any situation, at any time and most importantly, in any place wherever you are.

Look around, mentally name a few objects and objects that surround you. Next, say the following spell to yourself:
I am. I’m here.
Repeat it until you are overshadowed by the realization that you are exactly you, unique you, and the place in which you are also unique. You are here and now, and nowhere else.

Often we move our body to the other end of the planet while internally staying on the sofa in our hometown, or trapped in the armchair of our office, we are amazing animals by having and ability to be in both places at once and this ability prevents us from seeing the beauty of the world that surrounds us here and now. Call rule number three an exercise of mindfulness.

As soon as you can manage it, you can be sure that it will not be difficult for you to fulfill the last two rules.
Well, immediately after this — you can safely enjoy Porto, because it will open to you completely, and will not want to let you go. True, only if you he likes you.

I do not know if I told you enough about Porto or even if i told anything about it, in my opinion what you just have read was something very chaotic, no facts, no history of the city, no stories about traditional bakery and wonderful wine. So I propose to follow the rules of decency to end this disgrace like this;
Porto — the largest city in the north of Portugal, has always been one of the main economic centers of the country on a par with Lisbon. The first Celtic settlements were discovered here as early as the 3rd century BC, and in the 1st century BC. here comes the Roman commander Brutus and captures the territory, calls it Portus Cale, which means Beautiful Harbor and …

But about this another time. Welcome to Portugal my dear friend.