From time immemorial the River Duero is an important means of communication and transport of products of the region, having until the end of the last century been its only way of access. The use of this river and the deep knowledge of its course in documents dating from the Roman occupation have been found. The history of the Duero reflects the evolution of the ships and the transports in this river: like the concession of the passing boat, the transport canoes made of alcornoque (a hundred, with its regulations in the City of Lamego, of the 16th century). Until 1887, when the railway line was completed, the river road was the only one used. In the last century - according to a writer of the time -"neither the streets nor the roads, nor the roads for horse-riding, allowed these cliffs to continue without interruption".

The rails in particular and other ships using the river road of the Douro in general were the only transport vehicle, until the appearance of the railway in the last part of the 19th century.

The river navigation was dangerous and was full of difficulties so that the Duero was known as "the river of evil sailing." The strong decline of the river, the narrow curves, the outgoing rocks, the violent flows, the multiple irregularities, the rapids and the numerous "jumps" or "points" made navigation a tragic adventure. The Rabelo ship was designed with characteristics suitable to this river and especially for the transport of wine barrels, with references of its existence in documents of the X. century. The Rabelos ships, in addition to wine, carried goods in general and passengers. They were headed with a large oar to the stern, the swordsman, and for their propulsion they used oars on the down and a large candle on the rise. In the event of a lack of wind, the ship was driven "with a sirge," that is, by pulse, by ropes from the banks, or but with oxen joints. Millions of Rabelos went up and down this river (more than 3000 years) with much suffering, courage and tenacity of the men of these lands. The barrels were not fully filled so they could float, the accidents were frequent.

The navigation in the Douro area between Porto and Gaia is spectacular.

After the development of rail and road communications, traffic on the road went into decline and in 1961 only the river 6 Rabelos usually moved. Between 1961 and 1986, the hydroelectric use of the National Duero was carried out. Large dams of quiet water were created through the construction of reservoirs that provided many possibilities for modernization to the navigable road. If we exclude the growing periods, we can say that the river was completely dominated and the difficulties of navigation disappeared. Each of the reservoirs included a lock, with dimensions that allow its passage to large vessels (83 m long, 11.40 m mouth, 3.8 m of driveway and a transport capacity of up to 2500 tonnes). The Carrapatelo Dam, the first hydroelectric work built in 1971, was equipped with one of the largest locks in the world, exceeding a 35 m gap. It was the first national work in this field and represents, also because of its grandiosity, another milestone in the history of navigation by the Duero. The Development of Régua (1973), Valeira (1976), Pocinho (1983) and Crestuma (1986) will be built later.

The beauty in the Lusitan Douro as it crosses the vineyards of the famous Vinho do Porto, is immense.

Work was carried out to increase the depth and width of the navigation channel to promote hydroelectric use and some river springs were built. The commercial port of Sardoura, with a quay wall of 80 meters long and 1.6 ha of terraplen, and the commercial port of Lamego, with a quay wall of 160 meters long and 6.5 ha of terraplen, were completed in 1988 and 1989, respectively. On 10 October 1986, the first tourist vessel, the "RIBADUERO," arrived in Régua. On 19 October 1990, the navigable road was opened in all its extension by a tourist boat that arrived in Barca d'Alva, the "TRANSDUERO." On 15 February 1992, the commercial ship "SEA ELBE" opened the port of Sardoura and, on 7 April 1994, a river-sea ship, the "MARAIKA," first docked at the commercial port of Lamego. On 20 April 2003, the river-sea vessel "HANSAN-LYON" opened the port of Várzea del Duero.

We can say that, for the vast majority of the tourist and recreational boats, the Duerno is navigable in all the extension of the road (210 km between Porto and Barca d'Alva). The number of river tourists has increased significantly in recent years. With regard to the traffic of goods, despite the major difficulty posed by the insecurity of the situation of the mouth, the commercial ships of the river-sea now arrive to the port Lamego. The number of these ships that went up the Duero has also increased. Although mainly based on granite transport, commercial navigation generates significant gains for the region by making the exploitation of quarries economically viable and creating jobs in depressed areas. The Duero is increasingly seen as a commercial waterways with international and modern characteristics. There are currently 52 boats on the Duero that offer a wide variety of tourist offers ranging from the simple short walk (walk through the 6 Oporto and Gaia bridges or World Heritage) to the weekly cruise Porto - Barca d'Alva in barco-luxury hotel. There has been an increasing trend in the number of river tourists. Along the river, the municipalities and the IPTM - Delegation of the Duero have carried out the improvement and construction of tourist-river springs with infrastructure suitable for a high quality tourism. In almost all municipalities, works have been completed or are being carried out with the aim of, on the one hand, welcoming river tourists and, on the other, attracting the populations of the river bank.

In parallel to tourism and commercial navigation, sport has also increased significantly. Thanks to the support of the IPTM- Delegation of the Duero, several initiatives have been carried out in the field of river sports, especially the rowing, the sailing, the pyragüismo and also the nautical bike. In relation to recreational navigation, a substantial increase in the number of passengers, of vessels using the locks, was verified, which is justified by the increased interest of river tourism and by the entry into service of new docks with services and support equipment.

The waterway of the Duero is open, in all its extension, to recreational vessels of all kinds, except sailing boats with more than 7.20 m of mast. The navigation channel is bounded with signalling buoys, with the regulatory colors and along the road there are about 50 river docks that allow to accommodate this type of boat.

The passage of the navigation locks is subject to appointment in the IPTM, in the following direction: IPTM - Instituto Portuário e dos Transportes Marítimos Delegação do Douro Av. Cabral extract - Godim 5050-071 Peso da Régua. All the information needed to navigate the Douro River can be obtained from this link:

http: / / www.douro.iptm.pt / ES / via _ navigavel / index.aspx
Telephone: [351] 254 320 022 Fax: [351] 254 320 023
E-mail: eclusagens.douro @ imarpor.pt ou geral.douro @ imarpor.pt