​​​ Lost Paradises Travels - Europe  

​​PORTUGAL - Algarve - Tavira

Tavira is one of the most charming towns in the Algarve with plenty interesting buildings and churches and is situated in the east of the Algarve near Spain border. The town is crossed by the Gilao River. Tavira's origins date back to the late Bronze Age (1.000-800 BC). In the 8th century BC it became one of the first Phoenician settlements in the Iberian West, later it was occupied by Romans, then by the Moors. So Tavira has a very long history. Most of he city was rebuilt with many fine 18th-century buildings along with its 37 churches. A 'Roman' (actually Moorish) bridge links the two parts of the town across the River Gilao. The church of Santa Maria do Castelo, built on the site of a Moorish mosque, holds the tombs of Dom Paio Peres Correia and his knights. The church dates from the 13th century and the clock tower has been remodeled from the original Muslim minaret.