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Arab Heritage. Discover the Algarve from another perspective

16-10-2020

We know that the beaches of the Algarve are the most attractive point when you decide to visit the region, however there is much more to explore and today we show you a cultural route.

This cultural route, allows to know the identity of the Algarve region, the culture and also the natural spaces that surround it.

Filled with history, this route begins in Portuguese lands, in the city of Lisbon and ends in Iberian territory in the city of Seville. We present here a route starting in Aljezur that was, during the Muslim period, almost an island surrounded by the sea and followed by Sagres, Silves, Albufeira, Paderne, Loulé, Tavira, Huelva, Niebla, Almonaster la Real and finally, Cortegana, in full Natural Park of the Serra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche.

While passing through Albufeira, former Andalusian al-Buhera, you will have the opportunity to see some traces of the ancestors. Here fortifications were built that made it an important point of defense for Muslims against Christians. Nowadays it is only possible to contemplate a ruined tower, part of the Porta de Santa Ana and a defensive tower at the north end.

In 1499 Misericórdia was founded, an institution with a Hospital, Hostel and a Chapel. In the Pátio da Câmara, the remains of a late Gothic temple, the church of Santa Maria, an old parish of Albufeira, which was erected in the same place where the mosque used to be, were devastated by the 1755 earthquake.

 

 

To find out more about this route, you can consult information on the Visit Algarve website
(https://www.visitalgarve.pt/pt/941/rota-al-mutamid.aspx)

 

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