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The Porto Map

@theportomap

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Sharon Jemima. Hand-painted Porto. 3 Self-guided digital phone TOURS · Art · DM for custom requests · BUY: Link in bio 👇

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To support a Porto based artist buy my prints and maps on Etsy ….Link in bio 🔗
Commissions open.
#PortugueseHumour #PortugalLife #languagenerd #PortugueseFood #expatlifestyle taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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a month ago

Craziest love story I ever heard. The prostitute who kept her dead lovers head. It’s all true. But in Porto: love is love. I hand painted a cemetery map so you can find the grave to pay your respects. Follow for the release day. #loveislove #porto #portosecrets #portohistory #hiddenporto taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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6 months ago

Portugal’s first official flag was blue cross on white. Finland’s flag is nearly identical. Portugal switched to red and green in 1910. Finland never said thank you. We are waiting for our Korvapuusti 🫶🤩
For your holiday and to know Porto better buy my collection of three self guided tours.

Map 1: Bonfim’s Creative Soul - murals by local artists, intimate galleries tourists never find, end with a 19th-century photography portrait artist at a local café.

Map 2: Junk Shop Junkies - secondhand shops (1 not even on Google Maps), where I dress myself and furnish my home for €1-60, vintage finds locals hunt for.

Map 3: Porto’s Grotty Little Secrets - from historic to secret gardens. Discover Porto’s quirky side, folklore tales and proper old-school hangouts.

Places I actually go to, and not been paid to feature. Real Porto.

My Porto. Your Porto.❤️

🔗 Link in bio.
#portugalhistory #porto #finland #flags #selfguidedtour taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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4 months ago

There’s obviously plenty of bad news in the world right now — so here are 10 genuinely positive things you might have missed. HAPPY MONDAY 🙏🏻

Portugal plans to double its renewable-energy capacity, while already getting more than 75% of its electricity from renewables.

€1.8 billion is going into environmental and energy projects, while millions more are being invested in protected natural areas.

Guimarães is European Green Capital 2026.

Porto has just hosted its first Maker Faire.

20,000 people went to Leixões for CIIMAR’s marine-science open day.

More than 200 researchers took part in Porto’s European Researchers’ Night.

NOVA FCT is leading a €7 million European project focused on reducing industrial waste.

Portugal has put 952 zero-emission buses into service.

And Fitch has upgraded Portugal’s sovereign credit rating from A to A+, with a stable outlook.

Portugal obviously has its problems — but sometimes it’s nice to look at what’s going right too.

For my Portugal tours and art prints, click the link in my bio.

#positiveattitude #Porto #PortugalTravel #PortugueseCulture #PortugalNews taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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2 hours ago

This isn’t just a pretty sardine tin. 🐟

“Portuguese Gold” was inspired by a 1930s book about Portugal’s canning industry, including its original gold, embossed cover.

The new tin turns that idea into a little luxury object: gold aluminium, embossed and debossed directly into the metal — and the sardines even have edible gold flakes.

In 2026, it won a DIELINE Award for Food Packaging, one of just 15 winners chosen from more than 1,500 entries from around 40 countries.

Portugal really does take its sardines seriously.

You can buy my self-guided Porto tours and prints by clicking the link in my bio.

#Portugal #PortugueseDesign #Sardines #portotour #PackagingDesign taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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20 hours ago

PORTUGAL TOOK GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL. 🇵🇹

MANUELINE ARCHITECTURE DEVELOPED DURING THE REIGN OF KING MANUEL I IN THE EARLY 1500S.

IT’S A DISTINCTLY PORTUGUESE TAKE ON LATE GOTHIC, PACKED WITH CARVED ROPES, PLANTS, SHIPS, ARMILLARY SPHERES AND OTHER MARITIME SYMBOLS.

IT’S BASICALLY PORTUGAL’S AGE OF DISCOVERIES, CARVED INTO STONE.

SAVE THIS FOR YOUR NEXT PORTUGAL TRIP 🇵🇹 CLICK LINK IN BIO TO BIY MY SELF GUIDED TOURS

#PORTUGALART #MANUELINE #PORTUGALHISTORY #PORTUGALTRAVEL #PORTO taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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3 days ago

Zé do Telhado was the real name of José Teixeira da Silva — a decorated soldier who later became one of Portugal’s most notorious bandits.

He became known as the Portuguese Robin Hood because stories claimed he robbed wealthy people and gave some of the money to the poor. But the reality was darker too: his gang was involved in violent robberies.

After his capture, he was imprisoned in Porto’s Cadeia da Relação — now the Portuguese Centre for Photography — where he became friends with the famous Portuguese writer Camilo Castelo Branco.

He was eventually exiled to Angola, where he died in 1875.

📍Cadeia da Relação, Porto

Want to discover more of Porto’s strange stories? Self-guided tours and prints are available via the link in my bio.

#PortoPortugal #PortoHistory #PortoHiddenGems #PortugalHistory #VisitPorto taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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4 days ago

Before Porto had a proper Protestant cemetery, the British buried their dead on the banks of the Douro at low tide because Protestant foreigners couldn’t simply be buried in Catholic burial grounds, so the British community eventually secured their own land.

In 1788, British consul John Whitehead negotiated the purchase of the land for what became Porto’s British Cemetery.

But here’s the really strange part…

BARON FORRESTER IS REMEMBERED HERE — BUT HIS BODY ISN’T ACTUALLY HERE….

Forrester drowned in the Douro in 1861 and his body was never recovered. There is a grave in the cemetery bearing his name, but historical accounts say it was actually a space he had reserved for himself before his death; his son was later buried there.

The cemetery is tucked away just a stone’s throw from Palácio de Cristal and beside St James’ Anglican Church. The cemetery isn’t normally open to the public, so you need to arrange a visit/ring the bell.
There’s also an RAF war grave here — a quiet reminder of the British lives connected to Porto

There are so many strange little stories hiding in Porto.

Want to find more?
You can buy my self-guided tours and discover more secret Porto through the LINK IN BIO.

#SecretPorto #PortoHistory #HiddenPorto #PortoPortugal #portotravel taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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5 days ago

THOSE LITTLE CERAMIC FROGS HAVE A MUCH DARKER HISTORY THAN YOU MIGHT EXPECT. 🐸

There has been a documented practice in Portugal of displaying ceramic frogs outside shops, cafés and restaurants as a way of discouraging members of the Roma community from entering.

The Council of Europe has specifically documented the practice, noting that frogs have negative cultural associations for some Portuguese Roma and that seeing one displayed can be understood as a sign that they are not welcome. (Council of Europe⁠)

Portuguese filmmaker Leonor Teles made an 11-minute documentary about it called Balada de um Batráquio (2016).

And it won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlin International Film Festival. 🏆 (RTP⁠)

IMPORTANT: this doesn’t mean every ceramic frog you see in Portugal has this meaning. Some are simply decoration. The film and the documented reports concern a specific discriminatory practice.

Did you know this?

Link in bio to buy my self guided tours and art prints

#frogsofinstagram #PortugueseCulture #PortoPortugal #PortugalTravel #ROMAHISTORY taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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6 days ago

Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro was one of Portugal’s great satirical artists and illustrators, and Zé Povinho became his most famous creation — an ordinary Portuguese man used to represent the Portuguese public.

In A Ceia de Zé (Zé’s Supper), published in 1882, Bordalo parodied Leonardo’s Last Supper: Zé takes the place of Christ, contemporary political figures become the apostles, and taxes become the offering on the table.

The image caused enough controversy that Bordalo was prosecuted for religious profanation — and acquitted.

He went on to develop Zé Povinho into a recurring central figure in his political satire, turning him into one of the most recognisable characters in Portuguese visual culture.

1882 and already making political memes. 😂 click link in bio to buy my self guided tours and Portuguese art prints.

#Portugal #PortugueseArt #ArtHistory #Porto #RafaelBordaloPinheiro taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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7 days ago

Link in bio to buy my self guided tours and prints
#PortoBreakupComedy
#DumpedInPorto
#PortoToursAndTears
#ArtPrintsAfterBreakups
#SingleInPortoButStylish taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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9 days ago

AMADEO DE SOUZA-CARDOSO HELD HIS ONLY TWO SOLO EXHIBITIONS IN PORTUGAL IN 1916 — FIRST IN PORTO, THEN LISBON — SHOWING 114 RADICAL WORKS UNDER THE TITLE ABSTRACCIONISMO. THE REACTION WAS SO HOSTILE THAT PEOPLE SPAT ON THE PAINTINGS, AND THE SCANDAL CULMINATED IN AN ASSAULT ON THE ARTIST. FERNANDO PESSOA AND ALMADA NEGREIROS PUBLICLY DEFENDED HIM. AMADEO DIED IN ESPINHO IN 1918, AGED JUST 30.

ONE OF PORTUGAL’S GREAT MODERNISTS — AND A STORY I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT.

YOU CAN BUY MY SELF-GUIDED TOURS AND PRINTS BY CLICKING THE LINK IN MY BIO.

#AMADEODESOUZACARDOSO #PORTUGUESEART #PORTOART #PORTOHISTORY #toursporto taken in Porto, Portugal by @theportomap

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11 days ago