Olhão in the Algarve

When we have visitors staying with us in the Algarve, we like to take them to Olhão a fishing town where you can find ferries to take you across the Ria Formosa to the sandy beaches across the lagoon.  Driving in from the west, you first pass large piles of salt from the salt pans and then turn onto the long, wide esplanade, alongside the marina.  The tree lined walk is reminiscent of walks by the sea in the early 20th century.

During the French occupation of the Algarve by Napoleon’s soldiers, during the Peninsular Wars, a rebellion occurred in Olhaõ on 16 June 1808, resulting in the eventual expulsion of the French from Olhão and later the entire Algarve.

A month later, 17 fishermen set out for Brazil on a caique named Bom Sucesso, hoping to persuade the Portuguese Royal family to return to Portugal.  A replica of this vessel is moored up by the market buildings in Olhão .

Bom Successo

Arriving in Rio de Janeiro

 

Walking through the narrow streets of Moorish style houses you soon reach the church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário, built in 1698, when it was the first stone building in Olhão.

 

A stork looking out of its nest

 There are many beautiful balconies in Olhão.

 

  
And several shabby, fascinating doors.

The church of São Lourenço #Portugal

As you drive west from Faro in the Algarve along the busy N125 towards the popular holiday resorts of Quinta do Lago, Vilamoura and Albufeira you might catch sight of the roof of an intriguing church.  Once you know that this is the amazing Igreja de São Lourenço you can follow the signs and visit the church.

Originally a crumbling medieval church it was rebuilt in the mid-18^th century after the villagers prayed to Saint Lawrence for water as they dug a well, during a desperately dry season.  As an abundant gush of water appeared, they determined to build a new church, in gratitude.  The Brotherhood of the Church of São Lourenço had important connections within the Algarve and worshippers contributed to the building of a simple white church with an extravagantly ornamented interior.

Two brothers, Manuel Borges from Faro and Antão Borges, an azulejo artist, from Lisbon started the rebuilding.  Azulejos are the beautiful blue and white tiles which can be found on buildings, especially churches, all over Portugal, but in this case the entire church surface was lined with the tiles apart from the gilded areas.  Generally, the tiles are attributed to Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes, a famous painter from Lisbon, but possibly some of the azulejos may have been made by a painter in his vicinity.

Luckily the earthquake of 1755 which so badly damaged Lisbon and was strongly felt in the Algarve, only damaged 5 glazed tiles.  There is a barrel-vaulted nave and a small cupola.  The azulejos show scenes from the life of St Lawrence, who was martyred in 258 AD.

On the pillars of the church are the seven virtues: wisdom, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope and love.  This stunning Baroque church is well worth visiting, preferably when there are no coach parties present.

You can see other Azulejos on my Pinterest page here

Once again Ed Mooney has kindly included me on his Capturing History Challenge here