Faro, Portugal

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Use dmy dates Template:For Template:Infobox settlement

Faro (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell, Template:IPA), officially the City of Faro (Template:Langx), is a city and a municipality in southern Portugal. It is the capital of both the Algarve region and the Faro District, as well as the southernmost city on the Portuguese mainland.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Faro municipality covers an area of Template:Convert and, as of 2024, had 70,347 inhabitants, making it the second most populous municipality in the Algarve after Loulé.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="INE2024">Template:Cite web</ref> The city proper had 46,299 inhabitants in 2021, the largest urban population in the region.<ref name="ine3">Template:Cite web</ref> Faro lies on the shore of the Ria Formosa lagoon, a protected nature reserve and hosts the region’s international airport and university.

Founded as Ossonoba in antiquity, Faro was a settlement during the Phoenician and Roman periods and later served as a Moorish port known as Santa Maria Ibn Harun. It became part of the Kingdom of Portugal in 1249 and was elevated to city status in 1540. Since 1756, following the devastation of the Lisbon earthquake, Faro has been the administrative capital of the Algarve.

The municipalities of Faro, Olhão and Loulé, due to their proximity, shared infrastructure and commuter links can be consideredTemplate:By whom an intermunicipal communityTemplate:Citation needed with a population of 191,563 inhabitants as of 2024.<ref name="INE2024" /> A bus rapid transit system connecting this community is under development to connect these municipalities.

History

Template:Quote box

The medieval cathedral of Faro
Ria Formosa view from Faro
The Manuel Bívar park, the main square and historic centre of Faro

The Ria Formosa lagoon attracted humans from the Palaeolithic age until the end of prehistory. The first settlements date from the fourth century BC, during the period of Phoenician colonization of the western Mediterranean.<ref name="CMHistoria">Template:Citation</ref> At the time, the area was known as Ossonoba, and was the most important urban centre of southern Portugal and commercial port for agricultural products, fish, and minerals.<ref name=CMHistoria/>

Between the second and eighth centuries, the city was under the domain of the Romans, then the Byzantines, and later Visigoths, before being conquered by the Arabic-speaking Muslims known as Moors in 713.<ref name=CMHistoria/> From the third century onwards and during the Visigothic period, it was the site of an Episcopal see,<ref name=CMHistoria/> the Ancient Diocese of Ossonoba (306-688). The Byzantine presence has endured in the towers of the city walls that were built during the Byzantine period.

With the advent of Moorish rule in the eighth century, Ossonoba retained its status as the most important town in the southwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula.<ref name=CMHistoria/> In the 9th century, after a revolt<ref>A revolta dos Muladis de Xantamarya Al-Gharb (Histórias de Portugal em Marrocos) https://historiasdeportugalemarrocos.com/2014/02/03/a-revolta-dos-muladis-de-xantamarya-al-gharb/</ref> led by Yahia Ben Bakr who was succeeded in office by his son, Bakr Ben Yahia, it became the capital of a short-lived princedom and was fortified with a ring of defensive walls.<ref name=CMHistoria/> At this time, in the 10th century, the name Santa Maria began to be used instead of Ossonoba. By the 11th century, the town was known as Santa Maria Ibn Harun.<ref name=CMHistoria/>

During the Second Crusade soon after the Anglo-Norman forces took Lisbon in 1147 a detachment of this group sacked Faro, which was still by then under Muslim rule, on their way to the Holy Land. Again in 1217, during the Fifth Crusade, a Frisian fleet of crusaders on their way to Acre, sacked and burned the city.<ref>Villegas-Aristizábal, Lucas, "A Frisian Perspective on Crusading in Iberia as Part of the Sea Journey to the Holy Land, 1217–1218," Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History, 3rd Series 15 (2018, Pub. 2021): 88-149. https://www.academia.edu/37460772/A_Frisian_Perspective_on_Crusading_in_Iberia_as_part_of_the_Sea_Journey_to_the_Holy_Land_1217_1218</ref>

During the 500 years of Moorish rule, some Jewish residents of Faro made written copies of the Old Testament. The Moors were defeated and expelled in 1249 by the forces of the Portuguese King Afonso III. With the decline of the importance of the city of Silves (which was made the regional bishopric as Diocese of Silves shortly during and properly after the Reconquista), Faro took over the role of administration of the Algarve area.

Portuguese Kingdom

Former district civil government's palace
View of Faro from its cathedral
Estói Palace with its mixture of Renaissance and Baroque styles

After Portuguese independence in 1143, Afonso Henriques and his successors began an expansion and Christian repopulation into the southern Iberian territory which had previously been occupied by the Moors.<ref name=CMHistoria/> Following the conquest by D. Afonso III, in 1249, the Portuguese referred to the town as Santa Maria de Faaron or Santa Maria de Faaram.<ref name=CMHistoria/> In the following years, the town became prosperous, due to its secure port and exploitation of salt. Consequently, by the beginning of the Portuguese Age of Discovery, the town was well positioned to become a leading commercial centre.<ref name=CMHistoria/>

In the 14th century, the Jewish community began to grow in importance. In 1487, Samuel Gacon began printing the Pentateuco in Hebrew, the first book printed in Portugal.<ref name=CMHistoria/> The Jewish community of Faro had long been a dominant force in the region, with many artisans and merchants contributing heavily to the economy and city development,<ref name=CMHistoria/> but this level of prosperity was interrupted in December 1496 by an edict of Manuel I of Portugal, expelling those who did not convert to Christianity. As a result, officially, Jews no longer remained in Portugal.<ref name=CMHistoria/> In the place of the Jewish village of Vila Adentro, the convent of Nossa Senhora da Assunção was founded and patronised by Queen Leonor, wife of the king.<ref name=CMHistoria/>

Manuel I promoted the development and expansion of the city; 1499 had the construction of a hospital, the Church of Espírito Santo (or Church of the Misericórdia), a customshouse, and a slaughterhouse, all near the shoreline.<ref name=CMHistoria/>

By 1540, John III of Portugal had elevated Faro to the status of city, then in 1577, the bishopric of the Algarve was transferred from Silves,<ref name=CMHistoria/> which retains a co-cathedral, to the present Diocese of Faro.

In 1597, the city was sacked by English privateers led by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. The resultant fires damaged the walls, churches, and other buildings.<ref name=CMHistoria/> At the same time, English troops seized the library of the Bishop of Faro, then Fernando Martins de Mascarenhas, which eventually became part of the collection of the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library.<ref name=CMHistoria/> Among the looted books was the first printed book in Portugal: a Torah in local Hebrew (Judeo-Español), printed by Samuel Gacon at his workshop in Faro.<ref name=CMHistoria/>

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the city was expanded, with a series of walls during the period of the Restoration Wars (1640–1668), encompassing the semicircular front to the Ria Formosa.<ref name=CMHistoria/>

The western city of Lagos had become the capital of the historical province of Algarve in 1577, but this all changed with the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.<ref name=CMHistoria/> It affected many settlements across the Algarve, including Faro, which suffered damage to churches, convents (specifically the Convent of São Francisco and Convent of Santa Clara), and the episcopal palace, in addition to the walls, castle towers and bulwarks, barracks, guardhouses, warehouses, customshouses, and prison.<ref name=CMHistoria/>

Much of the greater devastation across the coastal and lowland regions was caused by a tsunami, which dismantled fortresses and razed homes. Almost all the coastal towns and villages of the Algarve were heavily damaged by the tsunami, except Faro, protected by the sandy banks of the Ria Formosa lagoon.<ref name=CMHistoria/> With the capital Lagos devastated, Faro became the administrative seat of the region the following year, 1756.<ref name=CMHistoria/>

Geography

Aerial view of Faro, in 2023
Flamingos on Ria Formosa

The municipality of Faro is divided into two distinct areas, the coastline, part of the Nature Park of Ria Formosa and the barrocal, characterized by hills and valleys, populated with typical Algarvian vegetation.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> The coastal area includes the Praia de Faro community on the Ancão Peninsula and the Barreta and Culatra islands.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The nature park was created by Decree-Law 373/87, on 8 December 1987, and is considered one of the seven natural wonders of Portugal, with a beach that is around Template:Convert from the downtown. It includes the river and a lagoon system, interspersed with dunes, forming a small islands and peninsulas, that protect a large area of marshes, channels, and islets.<ref name=":1" /> The beaches in Faro are situated on the peninsula of Ancão and island of Culatra, along the corridor of the nature park. The park is a rich and complex aquatic ecosystem, consisting of barrier islands, marshes, and channels, comprising sandy shorelines that separate the waters of the Ria Formosa and Atlantic Ocean. The beaches of Faro and Barrinha/Barra de São Luís, are located on the Ancão peninsula, the beach of Barreta on the Ilha Deserta, and the beaches of Farol and Culatra are located on the Ilha Culatra. The barrier islands are separated by tidal flats and shallows, including (from west to east) the Barra do Ancão/Barra de São Luís, the Barra de Santa Maria/Barra do Farol, and the Barra da Culatra/Barra da Armona (in the municipality of Olhão).<ref name=":4" />

Annually, many species of aquatic migratory birds transient northern Europe and nest there during the winter. These include flamingos, terns, pied avocets, Eurasian wigeons, and common chaffinches.<ref name=":1" />

Within the town are gardens and open spaces, among which are the Manuel Bivar Garden, Alameda João de Deus Garden, and the Mata do Liceu.<ref name=":1" />

The variety of species and natural conditions result in the region being a popular ecotourism zone, promoting birdwatching, boating trips into the delta, kayaking along the Ria Formosa, pedestrian trails, and biking tours, accompanied by nature guides. The municipality is crossed by the southern Ecovia do Algarve, a bicycling circuit that connects the Algarve to the rest of Europe.<ref name=":1" />

Climate

Faro has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa), moderated by a transitioning Portugal-Canary current giving a certain resemblance to Southern California that is not heated in the summer by the Mediterranean Sea like Algarve. Given this region is highly susceptible to the difference of precipitation throughout the seasons of the year, in the future scarcity of water could appear in conjunction with the increase of temperature and less incidence of rains.

Summers are warm to hot and sunny with average daytime maximum temperatures of Template:Convert. Summer warmth can linger well into October. The weather in the winter is generally mild by European standards, managing around 6 hours of sunshine each day, with temperatures averaging around Template:Convert in the coldest month. The city receives most of its rainfall over the winter; rain is scarce between June and September. The annual average temperature is around Template:Convert, however it is becoming hotter and hotter, reaching as high as Template:Convert in 2023, with average temperatures since 2010 or even since 1994 being around Template:Convert,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Statistics Portugal – Web Portal">Template:Cite web</ref> and the annual rainfall is around Template:Convert, however in recent years, rainfall has diminished, even reaching as low as Template:Convert in 2019,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Statistics Portugal – Web Portal"/> with the average yearly rainfall from 2017 to 2021 being closer to Template:Convert. The average sea temperature is Template:Convert in January rising to Template:Convert in August and September. Higher sea water temperatures are reached if the weather patterns produce a significant outflow of warmer surface water out of the Mediterranean which bathe the coastal Algarve with much warmer water.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="ipma" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the summer months, tropical nights are common and, on average, Faro has 45 tropical nights per year, which is the highest in Portugal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Faro has the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in Portugal, which was Template:Convert on 26 July 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

With over 3000 hours of sunshine a year, Faro is often regarded as one of the sunniest cities in Europe, alongside nearby Tavira.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> July and August have the most sunshine, while December has the least.

Template:Weather box Template:Weather box

Human geography

Town center of Faro

Administratively, the municipality is divided into four civil parishes (freguesias):<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Twin towns and sister cities

Template:See also Faro is twinned with:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Transport

The terminal of Faro International Airport

Faro is served by a transport network connecting it to the Algarve, and by extension, other European markets. Faro is about 3 hours and 30 minutes by air from the principal European destinations. By car, it is about 2 hours and 30 minutes from Lisbon, along the A2, and less than 1 hour from Andalusia, along the A22.<ref name="Aeroporto-Location">Template:Citation</ref>

Airport

Faro International Airport

Faro international Airport managed, as of 2024, nearly 10 million passengers,<ref name="Vinci1">Template:Cite web</ref> with 45 airlines serving this airport, including many low-cost airlines.<ref name="Aeroporto">Template:Citation</ref> In recent years, the number of visitors travelling through the airport has increased as more and more low-cost airlines compete to offer cheap flights to the Algarve.<ref name=Aeroporto/> The transport facilities to and from Faro airport and the centre of Faro include taxicabs and a bus line.<ref name="Aeroporto-Location"/>

Railway

An Alfa Pendular train at Faro railway station

Faro is served by the centrally located Faro railway station, and a smaller halt in the east of the city at Bom João.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The main station is operated by the national railway operator Comboios de Portugal (CP), which operates the Alfa Pendular, Intercidades and CP Regional routes, as well as a special service during the summer, the InterRegional line. The Alfa Pendular service connects Faro to the North and terminates in Porto. The Intercidades and InterRegional services connect Faro to Lisbon. The CP Regional service operates across the east and west Algarve and connects Faro to Lagos in the west Algarve, and Vila Real de Santo António in the east Algarve. Bom João is only served by the CP Regional trains heading east. Despite the proximity of Seville, it is not connected by train.<ref>Trains in the Algarve. wetravelportugal.com. Retrieved 20 April 2020.</ref>

Buses

Template:See also

Faro municipality has a public bus network operated by ViaFaro and Próximo. It connects the city of Faro with Faro Airport and with the municipality's various parishes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Regional and long distance bus services are provided by the intermunicipal network VAMUS and by Rede Expressos, Flixbus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A bus rapid transit system, the Algarve Metrobus, is under development and is expected to connect the municipalities of Faro, Olhão, and Loulé. Its expected route spans Template:Convert with 24 stops, linking areas such as Faro Airport, the two campuses of the University of Algarve and Parque das Cidades (Algarve Stadium).<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref> The system will use electric vehicles operating on dedicated lanes and it is expected to run every 12 minutes during rush hour.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> The project is part of the Algarve 2030 regional programme and a public consultation on the feasibility study concluded in March 2025.<ref name=":3" />

Maritime

Faro Marina

Regular ferry and tourist boat services operate from Faro to the beaches and barrier islands along the Ria Formosa, departing either from the commercial wharf or the Portas do Mar wharf. These services connect to Praia de Faro, to Barreta Island and to Farol and Culatra on Culatra Island. While Praia de Faro is accessible by bridge, the remaining areas are only accessible by boat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Culture and entertainment

The Faro city holiday is on 7 September.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The students' festival (Semana Académica da Universidade do Algarve), organized every year by students from the University of Algarve, is also an important event in Faro.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Faro motorcycle club is responsible for one of the largest motorcycle events in Portugal and Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Estádio Algarve opened for Euro 2004.

Sports

A 30,000-seat stadium Estádio Algarve, shared by the cities of Faro and Loulé, was one of the venues of the Euro 2004 football championship. Louletano Desportos Clube (a club from the city of Loulé) and Sporting Clube Farense (from Faro) also use smaller municipal stadiums. The stadium is also used for concerts, festivals, and other events.

Notable people

Maria Veleda, 1912
Sara Martins, 2018

Sport

References

Notes

Template:Reflist

Sources

Template:Commons category Template:EB1911 poster Template:Wikivoyage

Template:Phoenician cities and colonies navbox Template:Municipality of Faro District (Algarve) Template:Portal bar

Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Faro,_Portugal&oldid=279209"