The centre of Faro is attractive and easily explored on foot. It fans out
from the small harbour to encompass the compact Old City to the southeast.
Partly encircled by ancient walls, this is reached via the Arco
da Vila . The arch was built on the site of a medieval castle gate
in the 19th century for the bishop, Dom Francisco Gomes do Avelar, who had
taken it upon himself to redesign the city in decline. The portico is
originally Moorish, and a statue of St Thomas Aquinas, patron saint of Faro,
surveys the scene. At the heart of the Old City, the Largo da Sé is a
peaceful square, lined with orange trees and flanked by the elegant
18th-century seminary and Paço Episcopal  (bishops’
palace), still in use and closed to the public. Just outside the walls,
through another archway of Moorish origin, the Arco do Repouso, is the
18th-century church of São Francisco , impressively
decorated with tiled scenes of the life of St Francis. Further north is the
17th-century Nossa Senhora do Pé da Cruz  with fanciful oil
panels of stories from Genesis, such as the creation of the sun and stars.
At the rear is an interesting exterior chapel or humilhadero .

The first Christian church here, built on the site of a mosque, was all but
destroyed in the attack by the English in 1596. The base of the belltower,
its medieval doorway and two chapels survived, and long-term reconstruction
resulted in a mixture of Renaissance and Baroque styles.

By the 1640s a grander building had emerged which included a chancel
decorated with azulejos  and the Capela de Nossa Senhora
dos Prazeres, decorated with ornate gilded woodcarving. One of the
cathedral’s most dashing and eccentric features is the large 18th-century
organ decorated with Chinese motifs. Its range includes an echoing horn and
a nightingale’s song, and it has often been used by leading European
organists.

Since 1973 the Municipal Museum has been housed in the former convent of
Nossa Senhora da Assunção, founded for the Poor Clares by Dona Leonor,
sister of Manuel I. Her emblem, a fishing net, adorns the portico.

A variety of local archaeological finds are displayed in the museum, partly
in the lovely two-storey Renaissance cloister built by Afonso Pires in 1540.
The collection contains Roman, medieval and Manueline stone carvings and
statuary. However, the most attractive exhibit is a huge, Roman floor mosaic
featuring a magnificently executed head of the god Neptune (3rd century AD),
found near the railway station.

The Museu Marítimo is housed in part of the harbour master’s building on the
waterfront. Its small and curious collection of maritime exhibits centres on
models of boats from the Age of Discovery onwards, including the
square-rigged nau , prototype of the galleon. One example
is Vasco da Gama’s São Gabriel , the flagship on his voyage
to India in 1498. There are also displays of traditional fishing methods
from the Algarve.

The lively centre of Faro along Rua de Santo António is a stylish,
pedestrianized area full of shops, bars and restaurants. Between here and
the Largo do Carmo are some fine 18th-century buildings, such as the Palácio Bivarin . The early morning market on Largo de Sá
Carneiro, to the north, offers fresh produce, clothing and local crafts.
From here, a brisk walk uphill to the Ermida de Santo António
do Alto  brings a panorama of Faro with the sea and saltpans to the
south.

The Ethnographic Museum takes a nostalgic look at the Algarve’s traditional
way of life showing ceramics, looms and decorative horse tackle. Old
photographs document peasant farming techniques, with their heavy reliance
on manpower, donkeys and oxen. The most charming exhibit is the cart used by
the last waterseller in Olhão, in operation until 1974.

The impressive façade of this church was begun in 1713. Inside, the
decoration is Baroque run wild, with every scroll and barley-sugar twist
covered in precious Brazilian gold leaf.

In sombre contrast, the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), built in 1816,
has walls lined with skulls and large bones taken from the friars’ cemetery.
It is a stark reminder of the transience of human life.

The parish church of Faro is dedicated to St Peter, patron saint of
fishermen. Though restored with Italianate columns after the earthquake of
1755, much original Baroque decoration has survived, including the main
altarpiece (1689).

Highlights include the chapel of the Santíssimo Sacramento, with a dazzling
altarpiece (c.1745) featuring a bas-relief of the Last Supper, and a
sculpture of St Anne teaching the young Virgin Mary to read. The altar of
the Capela das Almas is surrounded by stunning azulejos 
(c.1730) showing the Virgin and other saints pulling souls out of
purgatory.

At the far northeast corner of town is the Jewish cemetery, created for the
Jewish community brought here in the 18th century by the Marquês de Pombal
to revitalize the economy. The cemetery is laid out in the traditional
Sephardic way with children buried nearest the entrance, women in the centre
and men at the back. It served from 1838 until 1932, during which time 60
families prospered in the area then gradually moved away so that there is no
Jewish community in Faro today.