Matosinhos is a city and a municipality in the northern Porto district of Portugal, bordered in the south by the city of Porto (8 km from the city centre). The population in 2011 was 175,478,and covered an area of approximately 62.42 square kilometres (24.10 sq mi). The urban centre, the city proper, had a population of 45,703 in 2001.

The oldest vestige of human settlement in this territory extend back thousands of years and include instruments and Paleolithic artefacts, collected along the old beaches (specifically Boa Nova and Almeiriga). The settlement of the land began sometime 5000 years ago, during the Neolithic, as evidenced from various funeral monuments and dolmens sporadically situated in Lavra, Perafita, Leça do Balio, Santa Cruz do Bispo, Guifões and São Gens.