Algarve Coast

Nothing can take away from the rugged and magnificent coast line of the Algarve. The south coast of Portugal has more than 3,000 years of history with the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans (who referred to it as Lusitania) and Moors all staking their claim at various points in history.

The Romans changed the structure of the region from the 1st century BC developing the production of salt and minerals, introducing a new type of agriculture, based on huge agricultural estates (latifundia) and planted vines and olive trees. The Romans built roads, bridges and large villas. They also introduced the Latin language from which the Portuguese language eventually developed.

However, the Portuguese language also has around 1,000 words of Arabian origin with ‘Algarve’ itself being one of them. As the Roman Empire fell in the 5th century, the Algarve was occupied first by the Suebi then by the romanized Visigoths along with the rest of Iberian Peninsula, around 300 years later, Islamic armies under Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed the Straight of Gibraltar in 711 and started to conquer the Iberian Peninsula. Moorish rule in the Algarve lasted for more than 500 years (711-1250)/Read more