THE TUA LINE
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
CASA-MUSEU MAURICIO PENHA
Sanfins do Douro -
Alijó
OPENING SATURDAY JULY 24th 2010 FROM 17:00 À 20:00
20 PLATINUM / PALLADIUM PHOTOGRAPHS
THE TUA LINE
A threatened centennial train line
It is in the Portuguese Alto Douro Wine
Region
now recognized World Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, halfway
between the Spanish-Portuguese border and the Atlantic
Ocean, where lies the valley of Tua.
Very collected and wild, this valley is dominated by a
magnificent historic railway: The Tua Line
Previously, one of the largest in the Upper Douro, the railway runs close about 50 km on the river Tua. Impressive work of engineering, it is with dynamite that engineers from the late 19th century have paved a path through the crags. At the station of the picturesque village of Foz-Tua the Tua Line joins another railway line crossing the North of Portugal, the Douro Line.
The river, dotted with rocks and narrow gorges, offers splendid prospects yet untamed rapids, some say it is one of the last still fully wild rivers in Europe.
The Tua valley, whose fauna and flora are also still largely intact, is however threatened by a dam project supported by the Portuguese government. A project that would drown and condemn the Tua Line, one of the most beautiful railways in Europe. Civil society mobilizes to protect this natural heritage, but local mobilization alone will not suffice.
