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| Typical old house in Vila-Adentro |
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| Arco da Vila, one of the 3 mediaeval gates |
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| copyright aerial view: Google Earth |
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The historical old town of Faro |
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Faro is a place of great historical interest having been a settlement since prehistoric times. It became wealthy under Roman occupation due to fishing and the extraction of salt from the local salt marshes.
Ossonoba, as it was known to the Romans, was the most important town in the region and it continued to flourish under the Moors. The Earl of Essex set fire to Faro during the Christian reconquest in 1596 although traces of the town’s Moorish past are still visible.
The historical old town consists of three quarters:
-Vila-Adentro, the oldest part, almost completely surrounded by the wall from the moorish period. Three mediaeval gates leading to Vila-Adentro: Arco da Vila, Arco do Repouso, and Arco da Porta Nova.
-Mouraria, where the moors were allowed to settle outside the walls from 1269. Nowadays this quarter is a busy shopping area, many of the roads being pedestranised.
-Bairro Ribeirinho, adjacent to the marina and the railway station, originally the quarter of fishermen and mariners, and today the centre of Faro’s nightlife.
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| Tower of the Sé Cathedral |
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| Pedestranised zone in Mouraria |
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Please follow us on a virtual tour around the historical quarter of Vila-Adentro: |
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