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FARO |
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FARO , a sleepy provincial town twenty years ago, now has all the
facilities of a modern European town, with an attractive shopping area,
some decent restaurants and a "real" Portuguese feel in contrast to many
nearby resorts. Excellent beaches , too, are within easy reach, and in
summer there's quite a nightlife scene, as thousands of travellers pass
through on their way to and from the airport, 6km west of the town.
Sacked and burned by the Earl of Essex in 1596, and devastated by the
Great Earthquake of 1755, the town has few historic buildings. By far
the most curious sight is the Baroque Igreja do Carmo (Mon-Fri 10am-1pm
& 3-5pm, Sat 10am-1pm; ¬2.50) near the central post office on Largo do
Carmo. A door to the right of the altar leads to a macabre Capela dos
Ossos (Chapel of Bones), its walls decorated with bones disinterred from
the adjacent cemetery. This aside, the most interesting buildings are
all in the old, semi-walled quarter on the south side of the harbour,
centred around the majestic Largo da Sé and entered through the
eighteenth-century town gate, the Arco da Vila . The Largo is flanked by
the bishop's palace and the Sé itself (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sun for Mass
only), a miscellany of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles, heavily
remodelled after the Great Earthquake. More impressive is the nearby
Museu Arqueológico (Mon-Fri 10am-6.30pm; ¬1.50), installed in a fine
sixteenth-century convent. The most striking exhibit is a third-century
Roman mosaic of Neptune and the four winds, unearthed near Faro train
station.
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