Fun things to do in Albufeira

We visit the south of Portugal in February, it was a great month to visit the south, because the temperature is very good to see and explore the beautiful villages, fruit yards and the beach.
If you like to swim in the sea, I advice you to wait until the summer months.
We rented a car for four days and explore a part of the south of Portugal.

Silves was during the Moor occupation the capital of the Algarve you still can find impressive ruins of the Moor fortress.
The gothic cathedral you see in the picture is from the 13the century.
After our visit to Silves we drove to the Monchique mountains, the highest part of these mountains is called: Foia (902 m)

This is another church whose architecture reflects the popular local style.it was built in the 18th century and it’s in Miguel Bombarda square. It has only one nave.
Interesting things to see are the doorways, for their decorations: they are adorned with stone masonry in Manueline style - whatever this means. I guess your eyes will enjoy their beauty more than empty words can say. Inside there are 6 interesting coloured wooden statues: the artist in unknown

This little church is my favourite of all the churches in Albufeira: it’s tiny but its decorations make it of outstanding beauty. The ceiling’s intricate pattern is really charming - and it seems that the idea of the cupola and surrounding pinnacles belong to popular architecture. I guess that there’s something of a Moorish influence, too, in the white-washed cupola. It was built in the 18th century and it is located in the Largo Jacinto d’Ayet square.

This little chapel, hidden among white houses, used to be – during the moorish invasion, a little mosque. When the Moors were chased away it became the Governor’s chapel and subsequently - in 1499 - it was restored and became the "Capela da Misericórdia". It doesn’t look so old from the outside, however, and this is due to the fact that most of the exterior had been demolished in 1755 by a big earthquake. When it was re-restored part of it were rebuilt in gothic style. Inside you can see a carved wooden altar piece supporting an image of Our Lady of the Visitation and of the Dead Father and also the tomb of Rui Dias who was probably the first Governor of the Castle.