The “slow” city
There’s the perfume of the sea and it’s marked by a river, called Gilão. Tavira is a land with historical value, where the Arabic heritage mixes with the Roman one.
Leave your luggage in the
Tavira’s Youth Hostel, situated almost in the historical center and come to enjoy the city where there’s no rush. The town is located in region Algarve, and it is also a part of international network of cities, “Cittaslow”, that promotes the tranquillity with vision for the improvement the of quality of life. To be a “slow” city, does not mean that there are never any accelerated rhythms.
For now it’s sunny and our journey begins in the “Camera Obscura”, where we enter into an old water tower and there we can see the city of Tavira in real time, in 360 degrees, through an image that’s reflected in a rounded table.
The next stop is in the Tavira Castle. With Arabic origin, this military building was rebuilt in the end of the 13th century, during the reign of D. Dinis. Picturesque, the castle also has a magnificent view into the city and a garden full of flowers.
On the way, we saw several latticed doors, made of finely interwoven lengths of wood, that permits the ventilation of the house and it gives it total privacy without been seen. This is an Arabic heritage in the southlands.
Going down the stairs from the Palácio da Galeria, we encounter the beautiful Misericórdia Church and it’s artworks meticulously painted over the ceramic squares dated from the 17th century. Do you believe that there’s around 37 churches in this town? It’s true.
Just next to it, it´s located the “Fado com História”, a unique house of Fado music in the Algarve, where you can enjoy short sessions of Fado music along the day.
Tired?
For us it’s time to do a break. We follow the recommendation from some local people and we’ve tried the tipical small cake “follado de Tavira” in one of many pastry shops around the city after we passed bellow the Manuelino Arch.
Pursuing with our visit, we are now in the “República” Main Square. In one side we have the romantic Roman Bridge and on the other side there are many shops selling so many local craft products.
We have reserved a little bit of time to relax in the pleasant
Tavira Youth Hostel with its interior facade in harmony with the historical center but having all the commodities of the 21st century.
It’s dinner time and Tavira city has a riched gastronomy and we are in the “capital” of the Mediterranean diet. There’s lot for you to choose: all kind of recipes with octopus (Santa Luzia village), tunafish steak with tomato sauce, “Cataplana” of seafood, Octopus rice and Chicken “Açorda” with chickpeas. If you are old enough, have a bottle of red wine “Quinta dos Correias” and for the dessert try the almond or carob cake filled with soften eggs.
After the dinner, we recommend you to walk along the river, close by the Coreto Garden, coming back to the Roman bridge, where you can relax and enjoy the stunning scenery.
To go to the Tavira island it’s necessary to catch the ferryboat in the pier nearby the center of Tavira (note that the ferryboat is running from the central pier between May until the end of September). There are many other beaches on the Tavira island (Terra Estreita, Barril beach and the beach of the Naked Man). The Barril Beach is the only one that has access through a bridge and then it has a little train that makes the connection from the bridge to the beach with the Anchor graveyard.
To get to know the city well, it is best to book at least two nights.
