Tavira Book

Impressions

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V. Gold with the President of the Municip.Council

Presentation of the Tavira book in May 1999 with the President of Tavira's Municipal Council.

TAVIRA
Old town at the sea – Impressions

This book presents more than 80 pictures, artistically photographed by Henning Hammond-Norden. The underlining text, written by Volker Gold, gives a profound impression of the town, its history and its people, allowing the reader to identify with this old and unique beauty.

What makes Tavira so special and attractive compared to all other towns in the Eastern Algarve? Tavira is no young, fresh prettiness; we rather sense the signs of fading beauty and decay. It is the melancholic charm of the town that fascinates the visitors, creating that strange feeling of saudade, a Portuguese word defying translation.

The idea for this book was born when searching for in-depth information about Tavira. Although the numerous guide books about the Algarve mention Tavira as worth a visit, some even misleadingly referring to it as ‘the Venice of the Algarve’, such descriptions seem to be inadequate or inaccurate.

Henning Hammond-Norden and Volker Gold describe and emphasise for us in their book something that is worth seeing and describing in a special way. Looking in-depth at the results of their collaboration will convince and impress each reader of the fact that Tavira, once quite powerful, today “only” magnificent, was well worth this labour of love and care. Tavira is more than bricks and brine...

Let us be moved by Tavira and we will be all the more aware of what we can and must preserve, here and elsewhere. As a perfect world never did and never will exist, our eye, trained to recognise what is worth preserving, will guide us through the unavoidable changes in the future.