Faro

Pilate speaking to Jesus: What have you done wrong, I’m not a Jew but your people have brought you to me.

Jesus: My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight.

Pilate: Are you a king?

Jesus: You say I am a king for this reason I was born, and for this reason, I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.

Pilate: ‘ What is truth?’

..let’s go for a walk in Faro.

Faro is the southern most city of the Algarve, and with over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, it is often regarded as one of the sunniest in Europe.

Our walk is advertised as free and for two hours.  Our guide made the two hours pass quickly, and we all gave  tips.

First, the Phoenicians, then the Romans,  Moors, Christians, and continuing to call it town are the Portuguese.

We will look at some places where the Romans and Moors left something to see.

From the top looking down in the first photograph is the statue of Grande Bispo D Francisco and under all the new paving is a crossroad that was part of the grid system of Ossonoba, the name for Faro during the Roman times.

The cities neo classical Arco da Villa on the site of a gate that was part of the original Moorish wall.

Then there is a story. Our guide told it well. Here is a summary.

We really don’t know how the Portuguese took this well defended city, but it is said that a guard for the Portuguese walked past, part of the city wall, at the same time each evening.  A pretty princess and his eyes met, so often that she sent him a note telling about some secret passages allowing him into the town.

Did they ever meet?

The Portuguese entered the town. She jumped into the well. At night, you can hear her crying.

A sad story followed by another. The Lisbon earthquake 1755. This caused damage in this city too. As it is in many parts of the world, it could happen anytime again. I wondered aloud if they had an alarm system. I was told they were working on it. I hope so, as Portugal is located between the Eurasian and Nubian tectonic plates and is affected by many faults.

The old town still needs you to think as you navigate it as it still has a moorish layout. 

At one of the restaurants, we were told that the passages still exist under an establishment, and if they are not too busy, they will show you. We chose the restaurant to the right of it for its vegetarian option, which was traditional and delicious.

It was time to look at the church whose steeple we climbed and from which views of the city were blue, green, and sunlit.

A lady was decorating it with pink flowers.

Back up narrow stairs to the bells.

There is a river and lagoon system with marshes and channels. Birds come in winter to nest here: flamingos, terns, pied avecets, Eurasian pigeons, and common chaffinches. A place to come back to.

Some sayings about city walls:

‘ Sometimes the truth has difficulty breaching the city walls of our beliefs. A lie dressed in the correct livery passes through more easily.’

Rachel Hartman

‘ I like to let them talk things out, but fact isn’t a democratic process; if a thing isn’t true, it isn’t true, even if everybody votes that it is. ‘

K J Parker ( He also said…the world changes. It’s either so quick that we never know what hit us or so gradual that we don’t notice.)

Take care,

Sandy 🙂