Remains of the Ceramics Factory of Massarelos - Porto - Portugal

Well that's what's left of it. Founded in 1766 it produced many ceramic artefacts such as tiles, that still exist, ceramic pottery and so on. It lasted until the moment it caught fire in 1920 and this is what is left of it. The surrounding buildings were demolished by the end of the 20th century so that the new rail-road bridge could be built and thus replace the one built by Gustave Eiffel between 1875 and 1877, which gave Gustave Eiffel the international fame he was pursuing with his metallic constructions, enabling him later on to build the Eiffel Tower some 10 to 12 years later.
Nowadays what remains of this once glorious factory is being preserved for the history of Industrial archaeology.
Almost in front of it, is set the land mark signalling the place were the Anglo Lusitanian troops commanded by the Duke of Wellington crossed the river Douro to repel and defeat successfully the Napoleonic troops commanded by the Marechal Nicolas Jean de Dieux Soult during the second French invasion in 1809, a time when the battle of Porto took place.
A lot of history was made in this place just 15 minutes walk form Porto´s Historical Medieval Centre on the river bank.
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