Faro Things to Do

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The Capela dos Ossos is a small chapel attached to the magnificent Carmo church. Going through the church and out into a small walled garden the chapel is on the right. The Ossuary was built in 1816 and the walls and ceiling covered with the bones of over 1200 Monks whose bodies were exhumed from the nearby friar’s cemetery.
The chapel is open on weekdays from 10am-12.30pm and 2-5pm. The charge for entry is 1 euro.

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A delightful park a short walk from the old town in Faro. There is the usual things you would find in the park gardens, adventure playground, a small café and benches to sit on.
What I loved about this park and what made it unusual was the many peacocks that freely walked around and the caged birds in the middle of the park.

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Carmo church is a beautiful white church situated in Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square).
The church was started in 1713 by its founder Bishop Dom Antonio Pereira da Silva, who bought the land that the church stands on. The church officially opened in 1719 but work on it continued throughout the 18th Century.
The inside of the church is rich with Brazilian gold leaf decorations especially around the main altar. There are many statues in the church some of them by an Algarve sculpture names Manuel Martins, who also helped design the church.

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The first burial at the Jewish cemetery was Rabbi Joseph Toledano in 1838 and the last burial was in 1932 nearly 100 years later. Faro had a thriving Jewish population until the start of World War II when Dr Aristides de Sousa Mendes who was the Portuguese Consul in Bordeaux, France in the 1940’s issued transit visa’s for thousands of Jews to leave Portugal through Lisbon to eascape the Nazi’s. This was against the direct orders of his government. Because of his actions he lost his job and ended his life in poverty.

The Cemetery is set out in the traditional Sephardic way with children buried near the entrance, women buried in the middle and the men buried at the back.

The museum that is situated next to the former Tahara house has original furniture from the 1820 Rua Castilho synagogue which was demolished in 1960.

The entrance is free.

The very nice man at the small museum showed me a very interesting video of the history of Jews in Portugal and the cemetery.
The shop does not sell very much but there is a free leaflet available.

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Nossa Senhora do pe da cruz translates as “our lady at the foot of the cross”. This 17th century chapel has gilded wood carvings and pictures from the old testament. There is an 18th century chapel at the rear with a tiled crucifix.
A small church tucked away down a side street near the Alameda garden.

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Largo de Se is a peaceful square lined with beautiful buildings and fragrant orange trees. The Cathedral dominates the square and there is a lovely little café with seating in the square to sit, relax and soak in the atmosphere.

A statute of St Thomas Aguinas, the patron saint of Faro stands here.

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Ria Formosa is known as one of the 7 wonders of Portugal. It became a natural park in 1987. It is an important and essential part of this area of the Algarve. It is the gateway to the port of Faro, a stopping place for hundreds of types of birds migrating during the spring and autumn including flamingos, seafood farms operate here and it is also used by tourists for bird watching and the industry of salt harvesting.

Visiting Faro in February meant there was not much activity at the marina. I can imagine that during the summer months and high tourist season the marina would be a hub of activity with boats coming and going throughout the day. Even in February it was pleasant to sit on one of the benches and watch the day go by.