Faro

 Faro

Busy Faro is the capital city of the Algarve, and its international airport is the gateway for many tourists arriving in southern Portugal. As the largest city in the region, Faro accommodates around 50,000 inhabitants and is a modern industrial and manufacturing hub.

Faro's Old Town

It is the Old Town and is surrounded by Roman walls which date back to the 9th century. Inside, a spacious open square that was once the site of the Roman Forum has a 13th Century Cathedral that faces the 18th Century Episcopal palace. An interesting building is the neighboring 16th Century Convent which is now turned into the home of the city’s archaeological museum. Within it is a section devoted to the Arab occupation.

Nossa Senhora do Carmo 

The "golden" church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo is claimed to be the best example of gold-leaf woodwork in southern Portugal. It also contains the macabre spectacle of a chapel lined with bones from over 1.200 monks!

Next to the small boat basin bordering the Praça de Dom Francisco Gomes is a small Naval Museum composed of scale model boats and galleons showing the maritime history of the coast.

Praça de Dom Francisco Gomes

There is also the Faro Jewish Heritage Centre which consists of a cemetery and a small museum. Much of the city is now composed of apartments and there are attractive shops and a particularly artistic theatre.

There are several cafés and restaurants tucked discreetly between rows of tidy houses and artisans' workshops.

An excellent museum exhibits treasures unearthed in the area and further afield.

Ria  Formosa Lagoon

Faro is also the home of the Ria Formosa an expensive lagoon, a nature reserve of over 17.000 hectares, and a stopping place for hundreds of different birds during the spring and autumn migratory periods.

This pavement harbor is a small marina and wetlands. teeming with marine life. This beautiful natural park is also composed of numerous islets and enormous sandbars with their own fabulous beaches, including one named after the city.