Faro is a city and a municipality in the Faro District of the Algarve region, in southern
Portugal. It is the southernmost city in Continental Portugal. The city proper has 50.000 inhabitants,
and the entire municipality has 64.560. It is the seat of the Faro District and capital
of the Algarve region. The Algarve and Faro district cover the same territory.
History
The Ria Formosa lagoon attracted human occupants from the Palaeolithic age until the end of
pre-history. During that time a settlement grew up – Ossonoba – which was an important
town during the period of Roman occupation and, according to historians, the forerunner
of present-day Faro. From the 3rd century onwards and during the Visigothic period it
was the site of an Episcopal see. With the advent of Moorish rule in the 8th
century Ossonoba retained its status as the most important town in the southwest corner
of the Iberian Peninsula. In the 9th century it became the capital of a short-lived princedom
and was fortified with a ring of defensive walls. At this time the name Santa Maria began
to be used instead of Ossonoba in the 10th century . Later on the town was known as Faro.
During the 500 years of Moorish rule there were some Jewish inhabitants in Faro who wrote
copies of the Old Testament. One of Faro's historical names in Arabic is أخشونبة.
The Moors were defeated by the forces of the Portuguese King Afonso III in 1249. With the
decline of the importance of the city of Silves, Faro took over the role of administration
of the Algarve area. The Earl of Essex sacked the town in 1596
and seized the library of the Bishop of Faro. These books appeared later in the University
of Oxford as part of the Bodleian Library. One of the books sacked was the first ever
printed book in Portugal - a Torah in local Hebrew / Judeo Español - printed by Samuel
Gacon at his workshop in Faro. Lagos had become the capital of the historical
province of Algarve in 1577 and remained so until 1756, the year following the destruction
of much of the town by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The earthquake damaged several areas in the
Algarve, where a tsunami dismantled some coastal fortresses and, in the lower levels, razed
houses. Almost all the coastal towns and villages of the Algarve were heavily damaged, except
Faro, which was protected by the sandy banks of Ria Formosa lagoon. Since then Faro has
been the administrative seat of the region. Parishes
Administratively, the municipality is divided into 4 civil parishes:
Conceição e Estoi Faro
Montenegro Santa Bárbara de Nexe
Facilities
The city has a public university, an international airport, a seaport, a marina, a railway station
and complete inter-regional bus services. Its 30,000-seater stadium Estádio Algarve,
shared by the neighboring cities of Faro and Loulé, was one of the venues of the Euro
2004. Louletano Desportos Clube and Sporting Clube Farense also use smaller municipal stadiums.
The stadium is also used for concerts, festivals and other events.
Faro airport is not too far away from the city itself. In recent years the numbers of
visitors traveling through the airport has increased as more and more low-cost airlines
compete to offer cheap flights to the Algarve. The transport facilities to and from Faro
airport with the centre of Faro include taxicabs and a bus line.
Climate Faro has a Subtropical-Mediterranean climate.
Summers are warm to hot and sunny with average daytime temperatures of 27–35 °C. The
weather in the autumn and winter months is generally mild with temperatures around 8–17 °C.
Faro receives most of its rainfall over the winter months; rain is very rare between June
and September. The annual average temperature is around 17 °C - 18 °C and the annual
rainfall is around 500 mm. The average sea surface temperature is 15–16 °C in January
rising to 22–25 °C in August. Nature
Faro is located next to the Ria Formosa lagoon, a nature reserve of over 170 square kilometres
and a stopping place for hundreds of different species of birds during the spring and autumn
migratory periods. The beach is roughly seven kilometres from the city, and consists of
a long sandy spit reached through a bridge. Events
The Faro International Motorcycle Rally, usually held in mid-July, is a famous festival, renowned
in Europe for being one of the biggest of its kind.
The city holiday is on 7 September. The students' festival, organized every year
by students from the University of the Algarve, is also an important event in Faro.
Gallery
Other locations named after Faro Faro, Yukon, Canada
International relations
Faro is twinned with: Huelva, Spain
Málaga, Spain Tangier, Morocco
Bolama, Guinea-Bissau Praia, Cape Verde
Príncipe, São Tomé and Príncipe Bayonne, France
References
External links Media related to Faro, Portugal at Wikimedia
Commons Faro travel guide from Wikivoyage
official Faro Municipality website