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Check it out: The best way to learn Portuguese in Portugal.

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Boavista, the district where Casa da Música was built, was actually the new 19th century economic center of Porto. Avenida da Boavista, the 5Km traditional avenue that crosses Rotunda da Boavista (picture on the right), is one of the most interesting architectural streets in Porto. It shows a large display of 19th century family palaces that are worth a few pictures. This avenue extends from the Military Hospital to the sea and it is still one of the most important economic areas of the city. So Casa da Música was actually built in an interesting place in Porto but a very traditional one as well. And this was probably what shocked Porto in the first place at the time of its opening. People in general hated the building and wished it was gone.

Ever since it was built, initially for the 2001 Porto European Capital of Culture, it has had this strange effect on common people. It looks like a huge box landed next to Rotunda da Boavista right after having fallen from outer space. It could actually be a kind of space ship if you look at it from its main entrance. Even the stairs that give access to the main lobby look like they were pulled out from a space ship. But like all the space ships (I assume) the interior is magnificent and intriguing. The guided tours show an endless display of pointy corners, wavy glass walls and stainless steel walls. The stair cases are all different and vertigo like – it is only when you reach the first step of the stair cases that you really see a stair case and feel confident about descending to another floor. Casa da Música was designed with different levels both above and beneath the ground level.

Rem Koolhass, the Dutch architect behind that angular design, planned a highly functional and flexible space with 2 main auditoriums, which are obviously impressive. Sala Suggia, the main auditorium, even looks cosy and open, in spite of being in the middle of that huge box with only a few windows. And the rest of the building seems to present itself as a spectacular labyrinth of stairs, corridors and pierced walls. The materials  Koolhass used are simple but full of impact: concrete, stainless steel, glass and interestingly enough tiles thus integrating the Portuguese and Dutch tradition of the cobalt blue tile work in the VIP Room (below), which is actually visible from the outside.

From a cultural point of view Casa da Música has brought a healthy diversity of sounds to Porto all concentrated in the same concert hall. It is possible to buy tickets to a classical music concert at the same time as to a Fado or a rock concert. It was meant to be the House of All Music and it is. And it was also meant to have an educational purpose, which also is effective. Casa da Música actually offers children their special experimental music rooms where they can have contact with rudimentary forms of sound thus becoming aware of the raw ways of making music.

Casa da Música houses 3 orchestras and provides people in Porto with a chance to experience music of all sorts, from classical to contemporary. It holds low cost concerts on Sunday morning for just about 5€.

Casa da Música also dedicates each year to a country. 2010 was Austria’s and 2011 is the EUA’s year. This means that a great part of its activities will be centered in the American culture in order to give Porto’s inhabitants an overview of a foreign culture without leaving their city. Still under the motto of Porto European Capital of Culture and the city’s leitmotiv – Bridges, Casa da Música goes on extending bridges to other cultures.

So all in all, after the initial shock, Casa da Música has definitely been well integrated in Porto’s daily life, heading probably to a better place in the future in what concerns people’s hearts. It has revived an already bustling part of the city and has considerably increased Porto’s cultural offer.

One of our teacher guided tours is to Casa da Música as we consider it an important part of the city’s iconography and consequently of its cultural background, which we want to to convey to our students in the most authentic way possible. From our point of view learning Portuguese includes every aspect of the Portuguese culture.

OdP’s Team

It is true that a writer’s quality is not measurable by the number of prizes received or by the number of books written, but a writer who won more than 20 prizes in Literature (including the Nobel Prize), who wrote more than 30 books, who has almost 40 “Honoris Causa” PhD degrees and was distinguished more than 40 times all over the world has to be very good. José Saramago’s controversial ideas are still the main focus of many philosophical arguments, literary articles, Portuguese language lessons and everyday’s conversations.

His ideas concerning religion and the international fight against terrorism are very clear and revolutionary. He even talked of himself as a “revolutionary journalist” when he was the director of Diário de Notícias. He has always used words as weapons; he tried to fight using words, using the Portuguese language to set his points of view. His novel Blindness, adapted to cinema, is the evidence of the statement above. For some, he has a harsh and severe way of exposing his points of view, for others even it is even unbearable as he sharply uses Portuguese expressions and words along the novel. You get this sense of discomfort throughout the book as the insulting question arises, “Can’t you see what’s going on around you?!” , or even the menacing future reality “that’s what will happen to all of us if we keep on closing our eyes to what’s around us”. Blindness can become chaos, and that’s what Saramago says in a brilliant way.

He was brilliantly shocking in what he did. He is still described by his wife Pilar as “transgressor”.

The documentary “José & Pilar” recently opened in cinemas throughout the world to give us a real and more personal view of Saramago and his daily work and life. As you watch the film, you get an extraordinary feeling of compassion for that old man and at the same time, for fans of the Portuguese language and literature, an extraordinary sense of loss.

The documentary ends as Saramago has this outrageous idea of writing a novel about Caim, the son of Adam and Eve. So when you’re ready to think of Saramago as a dead writer, you have a reminder of his immortal genius as he is pictured once again as a transgressor.

So if you’re not satisfied with the current order in the world, if you do not agree with the political systems ruling, if you do not see where you’re heading as a member of society you must read Saramago! And you should do it in Portuguese! He is one of the best authors to read in Portuguese as he manipulates words and sentences as a true master.

If you have already read Saramago in your language and loved him, there is no turning back – you’re hooked! The next step has to be learning Portuguese and being able to savouring each word as he originally intended.

OdP’s Team

Read the press release about the experience of learning Portuguese in Porto with Oficina de Português. Give us your feedback about it.

OdP’s Team

Cristóvão Colombo, Cristobal Colón, Cristoforo Colombo. Portugal, Spain and Italy, they all claim to be the country where the sailor, to whom is given America discovery, was from. For Americans he’s simply Christofer Columbus, the hero (or villain) that sailed his ships, leaded by the Santa Maria, towards the discovery of their New World.

Most of the information we can find on the internet refers to a Genovese Columbus, son of a family of weavers and cheesemongers, who lived in Italy until the age of 18. The lack of support of the Italian kings is pointed out as being the main reason that made him head to the Iberian Peninsula. But this story goes much further…

Antonio Gramsci, Italian politician and philosopher from the 19th century, says that the birth place of Columbus in one point of Europe instead of another is what matters the least, the sailor himself always affirmed not to have any bonds with Italy. From the 15th century up until the French Revolution, the essence of the Italian genius lays on its European dimension. According Gramsci’s practical point of view, it’s definitely easier to take this situation as being European, as it concerns all Europe after all. Or southern Europe, for those who find this European dimension fair. When we think about this, we shouldn’t forget which roles both Portugal and Spain had, we shouldn’t forget that we were sharing almost the same language, the same aims on the Discoveries, the same religion, and the same world. Remember Tordesilhas treaty? Yes, in some point in world’s history, there was a line that divided the globe (or what was known about it back then) into two halfs. So, even though I’m not an expert in these matters, I cannot consider some arguments and statements I’ve been reading. For instance, the way the name of the sailor is written doesn’t prove his nationality. If in some documents it’s written Cristobal Colón and in others the form Cristoban or Cristóvão is used doesn’t mean we’re talking about different personalities, as well as it doesn’t say anything clear about his nationality.

But we cannot overlook the theory that Columbus was Portuguese. And the controversy is old. It’s been almost a century since Portuguese historian, Patrocinio Ribeiro, wrote a book where he claimed that the adventurer was born in Portugal. More precisely in Cuba, in the Alentejo region of Portugal, where we can see a statue of him (below). One of the arguments behind this theory is obviously linked to the alleged fact that Columbus named the island south of Florida after his birth place. Quite simple isn’t it? This theory, as others that you might know about, was recently underlined by a Portuguese author that wrote a fictional novel where he points out this alleged fact.

I am proud of the History of my country, I’ve studied the adventures of these sailors over and over at school, Portugal had colonies in every continent and thanks to that, the Portuguese language and culture is spread all over the world. If it’s true that we were the first getting inside a boat and heading towards the unknown world, then the Spanish, the French, the British, the Germans, the Italians, the Dutch took the same path and found, populated and strengthen their colonies, with the same purposes, with the same nobleness. We all naturally study the same topics with the same enthusiasm.

So, let’s see Christopher Columbus as a southern European adventurer…who happened to discover the New Continent. Both Portuguese and Spanish language are spoken there, in a large scale. Both cultures have a huge dimension in central and southern America. If I’m allowed, I’ll just keep on waiting for the results of the one thousand researches on this topic still going on at the moment.

One thing is for sure: the wife of the great explorer Columbus, Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, was Portuguese born in Porto Santo in the Madeira Archipelago. At least, the majority of the historians says so…

OdP’s Team

(check this article in our website and know more by exploring the links in the text)

This is an article meant to remind you that Porto (or Oporto) is by itself a Unesco World Heritage Site. Not that this fact was forgotten. It’s just that we have a feeling that Douro Valley has taken all the attention in the last few years. And Porto, the city, may be a bit jealous.

One of the most recognized Unesco World Heritage Site in Portugal is the Douro Wine Region. It’s probably true that the Douro Region attracts more attention because of the specific criteria that gave it Unesco’s stamp:
- iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
- iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
- v) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.

No doubt that criteria iii) and v) on their own, and the three of them combined, perfectly match Douro Region. An outstanding region where Douro River carved its path through the mountains turning its shores into a unique landscape bearing land attributes that create the perfect conditions for the production of high quality wine grapes that turn to one of the best sweet wines that the world knows. When we look at the Douro Valley we are tempted to think about the negative impact of the human hand in nature. However, in this case, man and nature remarkably joined into a perfect symbioses resulting in a profound cultural richness.

2001 was the year of recognition if this landscape. But just as important as this World Heritage Site and cultural landscape, cosmopolitan Porto is sometimes forgotten as the city that best serves the Douro Region as its perfect culmination. Not only as a great city to visit and a place to drink a glass of Port Wine, but also as a Unesco World Heritage Site. In fact the city, or more precisely its downtown and medieval part, was recognized by Unesco earlier than the Douro Valley – in 1996. The recognition was based on the iv) criterion: to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.

This recognition surprisingly includes both banks of the river.Obvioulsy there is the perimeter inside of the XIV century walls on the right bank and then D. Luis I bridge connecting Porto and Gaia and finally on the left bank the Monastery of Serra do Pilar. This is the classified area but the protected area is bigger and also includes a lot more of the left bank of the river – Porto’s twin city – Vila Nova de Gaia. This is where we can find the Port Wine cellars which had such an important role in Porto’s economic and demographic development.

All the amazing layers of architecture of military, commercial and religious purposes testify a variety of historic periods making Porto a living museum. The primitive walls dating back to 11th and 12th centuries, the medieval towers known to be constructed somewhere in the 13th century like the Torre da Rua de Baixo or the Casa do Beco dos Redemoinhos dating from the 14th century are only some of the heritage sites left by times when Porto was almost to become home and departure point of the great Portuguese Explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries. The link between the eras may very much be the Muralha Fernandina – the second cincture of walls that was concluded in the late 14th century. From the discoveries era there are also lots of interesting places to visit that force you to breathe history. The Casa do Infante is known to be the birth place of Infante D. Henrique one of the most important historic Portuguese when it comes to the 14th and 15th centuries discoveries. The religious architecture is another ancient point of interest in Porto. The Sé Cathedral has its origins back in the 12th century and went through the centuries receiving new improvements and elements that range from the romanic, baroque and gothic periods. Another inevitable religious landmark is the Clérigos Church and Tower. This 18th century building (below) is mainly baroque with rich wood engravings in its interior. This is considered to be an ex libris of Porto and the masterpiece of Italian Architect Nicolau Nasoni who has in the streets of Porto his most important permanent exhibition. His last 50 years were spent in Porto and he left many of his art for us to admire while walking among the oldest parts of the city.From frescoes on the walls of the Cathedral to the Palace of Freixo and the façade of the Misericórdia Church, Nasoni transformed Porto into the most baroque and rococo city in Portugal.

It is believed that he now rests somewhere in the Clérigos Church but the exact place is yet to be confirmed.

So next time you hear about the amazing Douro Valley Region, Unesco World Heritage Site, don’t forget that the urban climax of the region can be found where the Douro River meets the Atlantic Ocean – in Porto. And we will address other equally important sites in Portugal that were recognized by Unesco. Just to avoid any bairrismo claim. If you don’t know what bairrismo is check this link or come visit Porto while you learn some Portuguese. We’ll be waiting for you.
Curiosity: Porto was always a commercial city. A city of merchants and bourgeois where in the middle ages no noble could stay for more than 3 nights and could not build a permanent residence.

OdP’s Team

(check this article in our website and know more by exploring the links in the text)

Welcome to the new Oficina de Portugues’s blog.

This is a space meant to be an archive for our exclusive and original content published first in our website and other platforms, such as:

1. Our new Article section;
2. Our Students’ Corner section;
3. OdP’s Picasa Web Album;
4. OdP’s Youtube Channel.

Also check regularly OdP’s facebook page for other updates.

To begin with this platform, the first 3 articles are published simultaneously here and in our website.

OdP’s Team