"HERE BE DRAGONS", NOT SARDINES

Everybody loves a good fridge magnet.

 
​  From a few visits to souvenir shops in the city I realized that dragon-shaped fridge magnets and souvenirs are much harder to find than the sardine or rooster-shaped ones... so, let me tell you: that's deeply upsetting...! :) It reminds me of the over-abundant Russian matryoshka dolls sold in every souvenir shop I've entered while visiting Czech Republic's capital, Praga...

Because Dragons are indeed the symbol of the city of Porto, this blog post has the clear purpose of setting things straight, once and for all :)

This is not an anti-sardines or anti-roosters manifest.

Please don't get me wrong: sardines are great, if fresh, on a grill, with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil, together with a glass of cold sparkling vinho verde during the hot days of late spring and summer! Are the sardines a Portuguese symbol? Well... they're not. They're part of a marketing campaign dressed as a contest  for the summer festivities of Lisbon and recently became a trend in souvenir items.   The roosters, also known as Galos de Barcelos, have a considerably more interesting tale supporting their cause - one involving a falsely accused pilgrim and a resurrected singing roasted rooster  - but these roosters, though traditional nationwide, are also not a symbol of Porto.

​Back to the dragons, shall we?

​HIC SVNT DRACONES, latin for "here be dragons” is in fact an expression that some medieval cartographers used for labelling some unknown regions in maps believing that fantastic beasts existed in remote corners of the world. The Portuguese maritime explorers actually feared those dragons would attack their nutshell size ships when exploring the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts, during the 15th and early 16th centuries.

The Lenox Globe, dating from ca. 1510 is the second-oldest known terrestrial globe after the Edfapel of 1492.
​It is housed by the New York Public Library. It is notable as one of only two known instances of a historical map actually using the phrase HIC SVNT DRACONES.

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​Where can we find these dragons in Porto?

In movie theaters:  How to Train your Dragon 3: The Hidden World  release date is set to February 21, 2019, and that will certainly please my inner child  :) 

(joking aside) You probably won't find any dragons by looking at the modern tourist maps of Porto which is rather unfortunate, because the city could definitely be considered as a Dragon’s den. You’ll find an unusually large number of these fierce creatures lying around squares, on facades and inside some buildings and many monuments!

One of my tasks as tourism guide, almost as a civic duty, is to inform any running visitor that these dragons are not just FCPorto’s symbols of invincibility (FCPorto being the most important local football club) but their origin and connection to Porto go way back! Dragons have been around for the last 6 centuries...!

It can actually be great fun to run in search for the not so visible dragons spread all throughout the city! This Roman warrior statue called "o Porto" standing in Aliados avenue is proudly wearing a Dragon on his helmet. The statue was part of the old city hall building, demolished in the early 1900's.

​DRAGONS ARE NOT ENDEMIC

If Dragons are here - dead and alive - we have St. George to blame for, him being the most famous Dragon slayer of all times.  His official 'arrival' in Portugal, together with his dragons, happened in the 14th century, the time when the Anglo-Portuguese military alliance was established, the oldest alliance in the world still in force.

To be exact, 1387 was the year when St. George, patron saint of England, made it to patron saint of Portugal and the Portuguese army.

Probable reason for that?  Portuguese king João I’s desire (need) to have his loyal army change its battle cry. "Por S.Jorge!!/for St.George!"  replaced  “por Santiago!/ for St. JAMES!", which the troops were using before. 

In fact, Santiago - or São Tiago - was a beloved saint in Spain, the eternal enemy of Portugal and its closest neighbor nation...

From then on there would be no more shouting of the same saint's name in foreseeable confrontations..!

St.George was merely a logic choice for D.João I, as he had recently ascended to the Portuguese throne with the military help of the English and had married Philippa of Lancaster (1387, Porto's Cathedral), the daughter of John of Gaunt. Choosing St. George was one of his actions to further strengthen those bonds with England.  
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St.George slaying a dragon. 1551. Giorgio Vasari. 

​Then... just how did dragons become a symbol of Porto?

It was not until the 19th century that the Dragon became a symbol of Porto. This was a wish by king Pedro IV of Portugal - you may also know him as Pedro I of Brasil (wikipedia) - who spent more than a year fighting his brother in a civil war. Pedro and his troops withstood a military siege(this > blog post < approaches that topic), fighting for their 'Liberal ideas' from inside the walls of Porto, all of this with the help - and loss of many lives - of local residents, the Portuenses.

As a 'reward', a recognition for their fighting efforts, the king gave the title "Invicta" ('unvanquished') and literally trusted his heart (the actual organ, as stated in his will) to the city of Porto. The crown and a black Dragon were added to the city's coat of arms, as a symbol of fighting spirit and invincibility but also as a reference to the 'Duque of Porto', a title created for the 2nd in line for the Portuguese crown. First duchess of Porto was Pedro's daughter, Maria II and she was the one to fulfill the last of his wishes: Pedro's body was taken to Brasil but his heart is in a crystal and gold vase at the Lapa church, in Porto, since 1837. 

FOOTBALL & DRAGONS

FCPorto has (only!) been around since 1893. The club took its symbols from the coat of arms of the city and kept them throughout time, even though the dictatorial regime of Salazar decided to remove dragon and the crown from the coat of arms of the city in 1940.
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FCPorto’s players and teams are commonly designated as ‘dragões’ and their hard core supporters are known as super-dragões. The modern FCPorto’s stadium was also named ‘o Dragão’. This makes it a very popular ‘animal’ in Porto and it is often common among the youngest generation to have no idea about its true symbolic origin.

'Here be Dragons' for sure!

Not afraid of dragons?

 If you're willing to go on an active 'dragon hunt' and you're not afraid to let us guide you on a running tour of 'unknown territory', you should definitely try our Heart of Porto running tour!

"Collect memories, not things" Come and visit Porto! #runforfun

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< HOmepage

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