São Pedro da Afurada and Senhor da Pedra

Vila Nova de Gaia, or simply Gaia, is located in the Porto District, south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. It has a total population of 288,749 inhabitants, and is the most populous municipality of the North of Portugal.

Vila Nova de Gaia already existed under the Roman Empire as the city of Cale. With the important trade of the river Douro, the Porto part of the city came to overgrow Cale, and became the most important part of town, where the Bishopric and the merchants were established.

After the conquest and pacification of the southern side of the Douro river after 1035, with the exodus or expulsion of the Muslim populations, leaving behind semi-abandoned fertile lands, colonists from the north settled in exchange for better feudal contracts with the newly appointed lords. These migrants refounded the old city of Cale or Gaia under the name of Vila Nova de Gaia (new town of Gaia) around the old castle and ruins of "old Gaia".

The name of the double city of Porto and Gaia was frequently referred to in contemporary documents as "villa de Portucale", and the county of the Kingdom of León which was centered around it was named Condado Portucalense. This county was eventually expanded and after gaining its independence, became the Kingdom of Portugal.

The city attracts a great number of tourists and the wine cellars are considered to be a must-see in any trip to area of Porto.