Fontaínhas

This guide to Fontaínhas in Porto centers on the bronze statue of Maria, unveiled in 2020 to honor the women who spent nearly a century carrying firewood up a punishing riverside slope. It follows the boatloads of scrubby carqueja that once fed Porto's bakery ovens, the women, often barefoot or pregnant, who hauled it for a coin and a half a load, and the street later renamed in their honor. Stand at the top of the climb where they once paused to catch their breath.