von by Cátia Antunes
PublishedErschienen: 2010-12-03
Ports are the vehicles par excellence for transactions. Since time immemorial, ports have been gateways for the exchange of goods, people and ideas. These exchanges have determined the relevance certain areas have attained in world history by framing global contacts beyond the narrow urban walls of a certain town. Even though Late Medieval and Renaissance ports were situated within the Mediterranean basin, the European expansion overseas and the local competition moved the preeminence of European ports to the Atlantic axis, where Northwestern European cities took over most of the central economic, social, political and cultural role of large metropolises, remaining important nodal points for global interactions until today.