Little Portugal, Toronto

Little Portugal (also known as Portugal Village (Portuguese: Pequeno Portugal / aldeia Portugal) is a neighbourhood and ethnic enclave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located west of downtown in the "Old" City of Toronto. It is bound on the west by Lansdowne Avenue, on the north by College Street, on the east by Ossington Avenue and on the south by the Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway CNR/CPR mainline railway tracks. The area is mainly residential, with Portuguese businesses along Dundas Street West and College Street. The area west of Dufferin Street was a part of the former Town of Brockton. The area to the east of Dufferin and south of Dundas Street is also known as "Beaconsfield Village" dating back to the days of the sub-division of lots in the area around Beaconsfield Avenue.

Character

Little Portugal is predominantly a residential area. The largest ethnic group are Portuguese and numbers of Portuguese storefronts are located along College and Dundas Streets, giving the area its name. There is a fine stock of mid-century homes.

Trinity–Bellwoods

Trinity–Bellwoods is an established inner city neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the east by Bathurst Street, on the north by College Street, on the south by Queen Street West, and by Dovercourt Road on the west. It has a large Portuguese (mostly originally from the Azores and Madeira islands) and Brazilian community, and many local Lusitanian-Canadian businesses are located along Dundas Street West, continuing west into Little Portugal; this stretch further west along Dundas is fittingly known as Rua Açores.

Character

The neighbourhood takes its name from Trinity Bellwoods Park, built around the former Garrison Creek ravine. Bounded on the north by Dundas Street West and on the south by the Queen Street West district, the park is immediately accessible from major pedestrian and bicycling thoroughfares. And it is bounded on the east and west by quiet residential streets. Accordingly, the park has a large natural "constituency". The park also sports a range of environments, including tennis courts, a playground, a hockey rink, a dog walking bowl, a grove, a range of picnic tables, a greenhouse, a community center, and a swimming pool. The northwestern panhandle is home to a farmer's market on Tuesday afternoons from spring to fall.

Portugal (disambiguation)

Portugal is a country in southwestern Europe.

Portugal may also refer to:

Similar spellings

See also

Portugal (surname)

Portugal is a surname derived from the country of the same name. People with the name include:

See also

Portuguese wine

Portuguese wine is the result of traditions introduced to the region by ancient civilizations, such as the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, and mostly the Romans. Portugal started to export its wines to Rome during the Roman Empire. Modern exports developed with trade to England after the Methuen Treaty in 1703. From this commerce a wide variety of wines started to be grown in Portugal. And, in 1758, one of the first wine-producing region of the world, the Região Demarcada do Douro was created under the orientation of Marquis of Pombal, in the Douro Valley. Portugal has two wine producing regions protected by UNESCO as World Heritage: the Douro Valley Wine Region (Douro Vinhateiro) and Pico Island Wine Region (Ilha do Pico Vinhateira). Portugal has a big variety of local kinds, producing a very wide variety of different wines with distinctive personality.

History

Romans did much to expand and promote viticulture in their settlements in the province of Lusitania (mainly modern south Portugal). Wines were produced across the territory for both local consumption as well as export to Rome.

Old Toronto

Old Toronto is the retronym of the original city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 1834 to 1998. It was first incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the Town of York, and became part of York County. In 1954, it became the administrative headquarters for Metropolitan Toronto. It expanded in size by annexation of surrounding municipalities, reaching its final boundaries in 1967. Finally, in 1998, it was amalgamated into the present-day "megacity" of Toronto.

Post-amalgamation, the area within the boundaries of the former city is variously referred to as the "former city of Toronto" or "Old Toronto". Historically, Old Toronto has referred to Toronto's boundaries before the Great Toronto Fire of 1904, when much of city's development was to the east of Yonge Street. The term "downtown core" is also sometimes used to refer to the district, which actually refers to the central business district of Toronto, which is located within the former city.

Old Toronto is the densest area in the Greater Toronto Area.

Union Station (Toronto)

Union Station is the primary railway station and intercity transportation facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Front Street West, on the south side of the block bounded by Bay Street and York Street in downtown Toronto. The station building is owned by the City of Toronto, while the train shed and trackage is owned by the commuter rail operator GO Transit. Union Station has been designated a National Historic Site of Canada since 1975, and a Heritage Railway Station since 1989.

This station is the busiest transportation facility in Canada, serving over 250,000 passengers a day. This is partly due to its position at the centre of Canada's busiest inter-city rail service area, the "The Corridor", which stretches from Quebec City in the east to Windsor in the west. More than half of all Canadian intercity passengers travel by way of Union Station.

Intercity train services are provided at Union Station by Via Rail and Amtrak, while commuter rail services are operated by GO Transit. The station is also connected to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway and streetcar system via its namesake subway station. GO Transit's Union Station Bus Terminal, located across Bay Street from the station building, is connected via the trainshed.The Union Pearson Express train service to the airport operates from a separate UP Express Union Station located along the SkyWalk a short walk west of the main station building.