Tavira
Tavira
Tavira is a nice town crossed by the river Gilão, located in the eastern part of Algarve, thirty minutes from the border with Spain in Ayamonte, and many others Faro International Airport. The two sides of the city are linked by a beautiful Romanesque bridge of seven arches.
Tavira is a perfect place for walking, because it has a beautiful historic center consists of a maze of streets with beautiful pavements. The center hidden gardens and tree-lined squares, churches and palatial houses worth seeing. The city also has a small fishing port and a modern market.
This location is ideal for exploring the eastern Algarve, because it has a variety of excellent restaurants, hotels, and tourist business base camp.
A good idea to explore it is to enter through the Gate of Dom Manuel I and start visiting the Church of the Misericordia, built between 1541 and 1551, considered the expression of the most notable in the Algarve Renaissance. Then up the stairs on the left side of the church, you are the Palace Gallery, which hosts various exhibitions. Once here, do not forget to visit the castle walls, where a great view of the whole city is obtained. The visit may continue in the Church of Santa Maria do Castelo, built between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and rebuilt after the earthquake of 1755. Down the garden is in front of the church, to the right, you can see the Archaeological Nucleus Pousada Almohad and the neighborhood in the convent of Nossa Senhora da Graça. If you turn left, you will see the Mother Church of Santiago dating from the second half of the thirteenth century and was also rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake.
Then, it is advisable to walk down the Rua Liberdade, a street lively with cafes, and get to Praça da República, where the Islamic Museum Nucleus, which documents the relevance of the Islamic period in Tavira with a set of artifacts from various archaeological excavations is . Collection highlights the Vaso de Tavira. Then, walk by the river and head to the old Municipal Market (Mercado da Ribeira), now a commercial space and hospitality.
In this area, you can visit the Church of São Pedro Gonçalves Telmo, patron saint of sailors, located at Rua D. Marcelino Franco, opposite the cinema António Pinheiro. Crossing the bridge, you can also see important religious buildings, the Church of São Paulo, the Carmo Church and the Chapel of Santa Ana. You will also find on this side of the center of Tavira Viva Science.
Tavira has a vast religious, civil, military and cultural heritage and a magnificent natural heritage on the coast, the barrocal, and the mountains. The variety of ecosystems and habitats found in the city comprises a great diversity of animals and plants that make up a very significant ecological richness with a great environmental potential species.
The coast of the municipality of Tavira is formed by the Ria Formosa Natural Park, which is one of the most important areas of the country for migratory birds, particularly waders and ducks. The Natural Park of Ria Formosa is characterized by the presence of a sandy dune area coastline with beaches and dunes that protect the area of ?€??€?gaps. The lagoon system is large, ranging from Ancão (municipality of Loulé) to Manta Rota (council of Vila Real de San Antonio), including a variety of habitats, barrier islands, marshes, sand and silt, sand dunes, salt marshes, lagoons fresh and salt water, watercourses, agricultural areas of forests, etc. All this illustrates the great diversity of flora and fauna. The inhabitants of Ria Formosa water, salt and SaPal, are of great importance for Tavira expressive, because here you can see a large number of representative species of wetlands.
In the mountains, it stands the Sierra do Caldeirão, the largest range in the Algarve, which extends from Ribeira de Odelouca to the swamps of the Northeast. Its highest point is in the municipality of Tavira, in Alcaria do Cume (535m). It is a landscape with rounded elevations and rugged terrain with a dense river network consisting mostly temporary water courses on the slopes and riparian gallery, where the ash predominates. The Serra do Caldeirão is mostly made up of colorful rochas, especially with thickets. The most notable species are the eagle, deer, wild pigs, rabbits and hares.
Agriculture here is predominantly rainfed almond, carob and olive. The flora is dominated by oak, oak, pine and eucalyptus.
An interesting place to visit this beautiful town date, especially if you like sardines, is for the 23 and 24 June, as it is when the holidays are celebrated, with the streets decorated with paper flowers and lots of nightlife. During the summer there is also a variety of attractions: concerts of pop, rock, jazz, and classical music; theater, thematic exhibitions, street entertainment, etc.
