The Porto Premium River View apartments are part of a 15th century building located between the Travessa do Outeirinho 9-11 and the Bacalhoeiros wall, now a pedestrian area overlooking the river Douro, right where ancient vessels of old used to dock in bygone centuries. The huge iron rings on the pavement are the visible proof of this activity, as is the building’s basement which, when the tide was low, enabled the loading and unloading of goods carried on boats which docked there. The building is located in a street with a 7-century long history and has a mesmerizing view over vessels passing by, more often than not surrounded by seagulls determined to follow them. In spite of the inevitable transformations on its façade and interiors throughout 5 centuries, the building has remained intact for at least 250 years. Consequently, the building’s renovation was carried out with the highest respect for its history, keeping in mind the unique architecture and unmistakable design of the Ribeira buildings (Ribeira’s borough is a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2001).

The building has stayed in the same family for over 250 years, remaining a reference and a landmark in its history. From this house, the Porto office of the family’s business, vessels departed carrying linen to be sold elsewhere. With origins in the North of Portugal, in the Santo Tirso region, this family grew linen and produced pieces of linen in small-scale handmade looms factories. At a certain point they started transporting it by boat, travelling along the coast to Setúbal and Alcácer do Sal, two important sites to the South of Lisbon. There they sold their cloths, renowned for their coolness and quality, to merchants from the North of Africa, who used them for their tents, but also for use during olive harvests, a widespread plantation along the inland banks of the river Sado. As travelling with money in those days was very dangerous given the proliferation of thieves and pirates, they started investing in land, thus becoming important farmers and land owners, a situation that prevails to this day.