Lagos (São Sebastião)

Lagos is one of the larger cities in the Algarve, the southern portion of Portugal along the Atlantic where the shore faces south. (NB. All words and place names in Portuguese that begin with Al- are remnants of the Moorish/Arabic period of Portugal's history.)
Lagos is an important tourist city with it's weather, beaches, scenery and more. In fact, I was told that 75% of the local workforce is involved with tourism, either directly or indirectly.
Historically, Lagos held more importance than tourism. It was held at various times by the Celts, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Christian royalty. Lagos was a major port during the age of discovery, and Prince Henry the Navigator had his primary residence locally. Also, there was a shipyard here, and Lagos was a center of the slave trade.
The 1st picture is the main square with it's modern statue of Dom Sebastião. He became king at age 3, and was killed in action during an ill fated crusade against Morocco.
Near Dom Sebastião is the local market. The 2nd picture is the ground floor which is a fish market that sells the catch of local fishermen. Upstairs in the 1st floor are fruits, vegetables, and other goods. Up top is a restaurant.
Across the way from the market is the local harbor and marina. The 3rd picture is the view from the market restaurant.
The 4th picture is the reconstructed fortress that protected the town, primarily from pirates. And the city was walled, most of which is gone. The 5th is a portion of what remains of the wall, taken from the outside in a garden full of specimen trees from around the world, refecting Portugal's maritime history.
The 6th picture is an example of street art here. The city has a program of approving street art . This one is interesting as it appears 3 dimensional with layers reflecting successively later periods of history.
The 7th picture is said to be the most photographed building in Lagos. It has art nouveau tiles with a painted border at the top. This was the style among the rich.
The 8th picture is a water house. When the city upgraded it's water system, several of these houses were built to provide water to the people of the city. I'm told these were still in use well into the 20th century.
The last 2 pictures are typical street scenes: one showing one example of the interesting way many of the pedestrian streets are paved; and the last of a random street in the old town, this one with a blooming jacaranda tree.Les mer