Tavira

The town of Tavira has a picturesque setting and gentle charm that makes it very pleasant to stroll beside the river Gilhão that meanders through this region.

For a deeper view, visit the areas surrounding the Praça da República first of all with the arched Town Hall and a Roman bridge with adjacent gardens. This area can be seen from the Santa Maria do Castelo church and its castle situated at the highest, most defensive and ancient part of the city. There used to be a mosque in the church square before the Moors gave Tavira to the Portuguese Christian commander (Dom Paia Peres Correia). The church contains the commander’s tomb.

The path up to the castle is easy and from here you can see the pyramidal roofs of the houses that date back to the eighteenth century; a characteristic that distinguishes the eastern part of the Algarve, along with the saltpans, the abandoned tuna fish tinning factories and the sea behind them.


Despite the fact that church services now only held in some of the existing churches, there are more places of worship in Tavira than in any other place in the Algarve.

But if you want to escape from the town, take the street from the Praça da República, parallel to the riverbank, that goes past the market, the Rua José Pires Padinha. It passes old boat hulks and saltpans, leading to a pier where you can catch a boat to the tranquil beaches of Tavira Island.