Mercado Municipal

The Algarve


Loulé's most impressive piece of architectural heritage is its art-nouveau market, a 1908 revivalist neo-Arab confection with four cupolas at the four corners and Moorish features picked out in raspberry-red against cream-coloured walls. Inside you'll find a fish market, cheap cafes and local produce such as orange-blossom honey, fig 'cheese' (not cheese at all) and Cliff Richard's Algarve-produced wine.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Algarve attractions

1. Nossa Senhora da Conceição

0.1 MILES

Situated opposite Loulé's castle, the mid-17th century chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição possesses three impressive elements: a heavily gilded baroque…

2. Museu Municipal

0.11 MILES

Loulé's restored castle is the setting for its municipal museum. The archaeology section's homo erectus kicks things off, and via dusty collections of…

3. Igreja de São Lourenço de Matos

3.97 MILES

This baroque masterpiece was built on the site of a ruined chapel after locals, while digging a well, implored Saint Lawrence for help and then struck…

4. Pólo Museológico da Água

4.57 MILES

On the village square, this small museum has a model of a waterwheel as well as information panels (in Portuguese) on water use. There's also a tourist…

5. Milreu Ruins

7.19 MILES

Situated 900m west of Estói, these Roman villa ruins are so large and grand they were originally thought to have been a town. The villa, inhabited from…

6. Pólo Museológico de Salir

7.31 MILES

Within the area encompassed by what remains of Salir's ruined castle, this little museum has a glass floor above the 12th-century Moorish foundations…

7. Igreja Matriz

7.4 MILES

Built in 1587 and renovated several times after the 1755 earthquake, this church has three naves separated by Tuscan columns, 17th-century paintings and…

8. Calçadinha de São Brás de Alportel

7.46 MILES

Constructed during Roman times, this ancient road is thought to have linked Faro (Ossonoba) with Beja (Pax Julia). It was used by mules and shepherds…