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The Funicular dos Guindais, or Guindais funicular railway, is a cable railway system in Porto, Portugal.
The original funicular was constructed in 1891 and closed just two years later after a serious accident. However, as part of a larger initiative to improve the transport infrastructure of Porto it was re-modelled and the modern track opened on February 19th, 2004. The funicular runs down a steep cliff from Batalha (on the higher ground of central Porto) to the quayside at Ribeira. Originally constructed to facilitate movement of cargo, particularly Port wine, the funicular is now mainly promoted as a tourist attraction. -
The city of Oporto, built along the hillsides overlooking the mouth of the Douro river, is an outstanding urban landscape with a 2,000-year history. Its continuous growth, linked to the sea (the Romans gave it the name Portus, or port), can be seen in the many and varied monuments, from the cathedral with its Romanesque choir, to the neoclassical Stock Exchange and the typically Portuguese Manueline-style Church of Santa Clara.