Showing 1-16 of 16 results
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Arco da Vila
You enter the old town through the neoclassical Arco da Vila, built by order of Bishop Francisco Gomes, Faro's answer to the Marquês de Pombal, who oversaw the city's reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake. The top of the street opens into the orange tree-lined Largo da Sé, with the câmara municipal (town hall) on the left, the Paço Episcopal (Bishop's Palace) on the right and the ancient sé (cathedral) in front of you.
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Arco de Repouso
You can leave the old town through the medieval Arco de Repouso, or Gate of Rest (apparently Afonso III, after taking Faro from the Moors, put his feet up and heard Mass nearby). Around the gateway are some of the town walls' oldest sections - Afonso III's improvements on the Moorish defences.
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Capela dos Ossos
A more ghoulish attraction lies behind the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo. The 19th-century Capela dos Ossos was built from the bones and skulls of over 1000 monks as a blackly reverent reminder of earthly impermanence, and the ultimate in recycling. There's a similar chapel at Évora.
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Cidade Velha
Within medieval walls, the picturesque Cidade Velha consists of winding, peaceful cobbled streets and squares, reconstructed in a mélange of styles following successive batterings - first by marauding British and then two big earthquakes.
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Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assunção
Next to the cathedral is the stately 16th-century Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assunção, now housing the Museu Municipal.
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Estádio Intermunicipal do Algarve
The 30,000-seat Estádio Intermunicipal do Algarve is a state-of-the-art stadium built for Euro2004, at São João da Venda, 8km northwest of Faro. Here you can watch Faro's own team, SC Farense, and Loulé's Louletano. Contact the turismo for transport information.
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Igreja de Misericórdia
The 16th-century Igreja de Misericórdia, opposite the Arco da Vila, has a remarkable Manueline portico, the only remnant of an earlier chapel to withstand the 1755 earthquake.
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Igreja de São Francisco
For more dazzling woodwork, head to the frenzied 18th-century baroque interior of the Igreja de São Francisco with tiles depicting the life of St Francis.
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Igreja de São Pedro
At the southern end of Largo do Carmo is the 16th-century Igreja de São Pedro, filled with 18th-century azulejos and fine-carved woodwork.
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Igreja do Nossa Senhora do Carmo & Capela dos Ossos
The twin-towered, vanilla-and-butterscotch Church of Our Lady of Carmel was completed in 1719 under João V and paid for (and spectacularly gilded inside) with Brazilian gold. Behind the church is the Capela dos Ossos, built from the bones and skulls of more than a thousand monks as a pointed reminder of earthly impermanence, and the ultimate in recycling.
Read more about Igreja do Nossa Senhora do Carmo & Capela dos Ossos
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Milreu
The ruins of a grand Roman villa are set in beautiful countryside at Milreu and provide a rare opportunity to glimpse something of Roman life here. The lst-century AD ruins reveal the characteristic form of a peristyle villa, with a gallery of columns around a courtyard.
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Museu Etnográfico Regional do Algarve
In the left entrance of the district assembly building is the Algarve Regional Ethnographic Museum. Elements of old peasant life are on display here - like a small fishing boat and a wooden water cart (used until the owner's death in 1974). There are also enigmatically labelled displays of ceramics, fabrics and dioramas of typical interiors.
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Museu Municipal
The splendid, domed 16th-century Renaissance Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assunção, in what was once the Jewish quarter, houses the Museu Municipal. Highlights are the 3rd-century Mosaic of the Ocean, found in 1976 on a building site; 9th- to 13th-century domestic Islamic artefacts; and works by a notable Faro painter, Carlos Filipe Porfírio, depicting local legends.
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Paço Episcopal
Facing the cathedral is the 18th-century Paço Episcopal, with a pointy red roof and finished in multicoloured azulejos (hand-painted tiles), successor to the previous Episcopal dwelling trashed by British troops in 1596. It houses changing exhibitions of sacred art, and is worth stopping in to glimpse the finely crafted interior. At the southern end of the square is a small 15th-century town gate, the Arco da Porta Nova, leading to the ferry pier.
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Praia de Faro
The town's beach, Praia de Faro, with miles of sweeping sand, windsurfing operators and some cafés, is on the Ilha de Faro, 10km away. It's crammed in July and August. Take bus 14 or 16 from opposite the bus station (half-hourly in summer, via the airport).
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Sé
The Sé was completed in 1251, on what was probably the site of a Roman temple, then a Visigoth cathedral and then a Moorish mosque. Only the tower gate and two chapels remain of the original Romanesque-Gothic exterior - the rest was devoured in 1755. It was rebuilt in a polygamy of Gothic, Renaissance and baroque styles, with intense gilded carving alongside elaborate tilework inside.
Showing 1-16 of 16 results
