Castle sights in The Algarve
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Tavira
The Rio Gilão runs through Tavira's centre, reflecting elegant houses and inspiring tourist brochures to call it the Venice of the Algarve. Topped by castle ruins and packed with 16th- to 18th-century buildings and 37 churches, Tavira is the Algarve's most genteel town. It's 3km (1.8mi) from the coast, and near beautiful, unspoilt beaches on Ilha de Tavira.
Built in the 1540s, the Igreja da Misericórdia (Rua da Galeria; admission free; 10:00-13:00 Mon, Wed & Fri) is the Algarve's most important Renaissance monument, with a magnificent carved, arched doorway topped by statues.
The 13th-century Gothic Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo (admission free; 09:30-12:00 & 14:30-1…
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Castle
The russet-coloured, Lego-like castle has great views over the town and surrounding countryside. It was restored in 1835 and you can walk around its chunky sandstone walls, which today enclose unfinished archaeological digs that reveal the site’s Roman and pre-Roman past. In the north wall you can see a treason gate (an escape route through which turncoats would sometimes let the enemy in), typical of castles at the time. The Moorish occupation is recalled by a deep well and a rosy-coloured water cistern, 5m deep. Inside, the cistern’s four vaults are supported by 10 columns. Probably built in the 11th century, by the 16th century the castle was abandoned. Recently the ca…
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Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo
Beside the castle, the Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo, is a 13th-century Gothic Church, built on the site of a Moorish mosque but rebuilt by an Italian neoclassicist following earthquake damage 500 years later. However, the architect retained traces of the former church - namely the main doorway, two side chapels and Arabic-style windows in the clock tower. Inside is a plaque marking the tomb of Dom Paio Peres Correia, who won the town back from the Moors, as well as those of the seven Christian knights whose murder by the Moors precipitated the final attack on Tavira.
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Castelo
What's left of the Castelo is surrounded by a decidedly unwar-like, small and appealing garden. The defence might date back to Neolithic times; it was rebuilt by Phoenicians in the 8th century and later taken over by the Moors. What stands today dates mostly from 17th-century reconstruction. The restored octagonal tower offers fine views over Tavira.
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