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Faro
Car hire
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Faro is the administrative centre for the whole of
the Algarve region with a population in excess of
55.000 people. The city has both Arab and
Roman ruins but most of the present attractive older
buildings were constructed after the disastrous
earthquake of both 1755 and 1532. The Moors who
occupied the town in the 8th Century originally gave
the city it the name of Ossónoba and
developed it into a trading port until 1249. They
were then defeated by the forces of Dom Afonso
III. With the decline of the importance of the
city of Silves this town took over the role of
administration of the Algarve area. The Earl of Essex
sacked the town in 1596 with his fellow crusaders on
their journey to the Holy Land and the collection of
books taken from the palace of the Bishop of
Faro became an important part of the Bodleian
Library in Oxford, England. Another interesting point
is that during the 500 years of Moorish
occupation there were some Jewish inhabitants
in Faro who were kept busy printing copies of the Old
Testament.
Faro - Description
Particularly attractive is the old part of the city
surrounded still by the Roman walls which date back
to the 9th. Inside a spacious open square that was
once the site of the Roman Forum is a 13th Century
Cathedral that faces the 18th Century Episcopal
palace. An interesting building is the neighbouring
16th Century Convent that is now turned into the home
of the city’s archaeological museum. Within it
is a section devoted to the Arab occupation. 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 the 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.
Much of the city is now composed of apartments and
there are attractive shops and a particularly
artistic theatre. Faro is also the home of the Ria
Formosa 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.
The beach is almost 7 Kms distant from the city and
is a long sandy spit reached by crossing a bridge not
far from the International Airport. The municipal
council has an active cultural department organizing
different and various events during the
year.
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