UNESCO World Heritage

Created in 1756 by the government of the Marquis of Pombal, as the first demarcated and regulated region in the world, the Alto Douro Wine Region is an outstanding example of a traditional wine-producing region, famous not only for its Port wine, but also for its more recent high quality table wines. All these wines come from the terraces that surround the river Douro and its tributaries, where walls made of schist support the vineyards full of white or red grapes.
Not only is the landscape ialtered by the production of wine, but also the pace of life of the Douro. If the winter is marked by the calm and quietness, which seems to be reflected in the bare vines, the transition from the summer to the autumn brings the bustle of the harvest with a fall and rise of baskets and pruning shears, on the slopes populated by workers.
Recognising the importance of the landscape and the traditional wine production activities, in 2001, UNESCO classified 24 600 hectares of the Alto Douro Wine Region, divided into 13 counties, as a World Heritage.
(I had much difficulty in choosing only one photo but decided for this one and as an important region of my country - Portugal)

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