Matosinhos Audio Tours

Matosinhos occupies the Atlantic coastline immediately north of Porto and has been one of Portugal's principal fishing and commercial ports since at least the 11th century. For most of that time the streets smelled of sardines: dozens of canning factories once processed the Atlantic catch, and the smell has been replaced by the woodsmoke of charcoal grills as some 600 restaurants serve that catch directly to the tables. The market behind the harbor delivers fish landed the same morning to kitchens that will grill it for lunch.

The most visible monument to this fishing past is She Changes, a 50-meter-tall fiber sculpture by the American artist Janet Echelman, installed in 2004 as a memorial to local fishermen.

The net-like form billows in the Atlantic wind above a roundabout near the harbor, shifting its apparent shape constantly. On Rua Herois de Franca and the surrounding streets, the quality and density of seafood restaurants is extraordinary by any European standard, and the exposed Atlantic beach running north from the port produces consistent surf waves that have made Matosinhos a destination for surfers alongside everyone else who comes for the fish.