Or, early on, goes through Golgota, before reaching Venezuela, without forgetting the car bridge. Bon voyage.
The line 503, and STCP – Porto Collective Transport Society, Liga Boavista (Bom Sucesso) to Gatões. It is one of the 9 routes that goes from Porto to Matosinhos.
It is one of the largest lines, which have the most stops. Don’t hit the record. There are other STCP lines that have more stops, but their 50 stops They are synonymous with patience for those who go inside.
Patience and curiosity. Because it has recently caught our attention. Because of the names of some.
Soon the third stop, towards Boavista-Gatão, is Goalgota. Who frequents one of the colleges of the Campo Alegre Zone, knows this area very well. There is a Golgotta Street, even next to the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (and below the House of Golgota), and its name will have religious origin: Golgota comes from the Hebrew Gulgōleṯ, which means “Place of the Skull” – Jesus Christ was crucified in this place, outside the walls of Jerusalem.
In that area in Porto, they will have structures or religious institutions that used this name; Either processions, ways or staging of the Passion of Christ were performed in this area. But there is no scientific evidence of these theories.
Shortly thereafter, we went through Venezuela. Not for the country, but for the stop that is right on Venezuela Street. It is normal to have streets in Portugal with names from other countries.
After playing in Bessa, We keep the Focus And we followed a few minutes later to Manuel Pinto Azevedo; The following stop is Manuel Pinto Azevedo; And after this is Manuel Pinto Azevedo. Yes, there are three stops with the name of this former entrepreneur, politician and meritorious Porto. Because the three – each with a number – are on Manuel Pinto Azevedo Street.
By the way, there are even four stops of 503 on this street full of companies (and expensive cars), but the first was the designation of a street next door, that of Engineer Ferreira Dias.
Already in Matosinhos: Seven Bicas. This is well known for those who walk in metro. Still in the nineteenth century, a source with seven spouts was built in that area, in honor of an alleged appearance of Our Lady of Hora. The number seven is not a chance.
We had passed by Venezuela, now it’s the United Kingdom. More precisely the London shopping centerwhich is also in the Lady of the Hour.
In the final phase of the trip, the unusual names begin to accumulate. Cuckoo source It will be a reference to an old source of water – a supposedly miraculous source – and the cuckoo will be related to spring, new beginnings, renewal.
O New world It is waiting for us in the Guifões area. Without great certainties, it will be an allusion to urban growth, housing expansion, the development of that place.
The next stop is called New buildings. It has a similar explanation: it is associated with recent housing projects promoted by the Matosinhos City Council.
Mount two pipos It is in a high zone, where there are sometimes tannomial workshops or polles deposits, storage places or splashes.
The next stop is Water remnant. Here with a quick noticeable justification: there would be a small watercourse. A small gulk, a “little water”.
Near the end of the trip, here is the Car bridge. There was a medieval bridge on the Leça River, which united the parishes Santa Cruz do Bispo and Guifões. In fact, the granite bridge still exists, but it is inside a park; The bus does not pass there.
By the way: What about the names Boavista and Gattões?
About Boavista, The origin is Quinta da Boavista, built in the eighteenth century in the area of the current Praça da República and which had a privileged location – had… good views. Especially for the western zone of Porto.
The origin of the name Gatões It is more complex. There are no records, official documents, but it may be related to the distant barbaric invasions. There are names in Portugal ending in “ões” that will have Germanic origin; suggest possession or association by the name that comes before this suffix.
Bon voyage. Perhaps in a next article we between 508 to the cable of the world.
Nuno Teixeira da Silva, Zap //
