Tavira: both banks of the Gilão: a self-guided walk

By Alleytale

Tavira on foot, from the castle hill to the river market

Tavira grew around a crossing of the Gilão, and each stop belongs to a different layer of the town: a castle built to guard the ford, a church said to hold its conquerors, a Renaissance church of mercy, a market and the bridge that links the two banks.

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The stops

1. 1Castelo de Tavira

   The castle was built on top of the Santa Maria hill to guard the ford that let people cross between the two banks of the Gilão. In the first half of the 1800s the space inside was used as a cemetery. The town bought the land in 1938, planning a lookout and a garden, and that is how the Castle Garden began.

   

2. 2Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo

   This is Tavira's main church, probably built in the 13th century on ground that had earlier held a mosque. Inside, on the right of the chancel, is the tomb of the seven knights who fell in the capture of the city. On the left is the alleged tomb of Dom Paio Peres Correia, the master of the Order of Santiago who led the conquest of Tavira.

   

3. 3Igreja da Misericórdia

   Building began in 1541 and took ten years. The architect was André Pilarte, who also worked on the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon. The main portal shows Our Lady of Mercy between Saint Peter and Saint Paul, with the arms of the kingdom and of Tavira, and inside, tile panels from the 18th century show the Works of Mercy.

   

4. 4Paços do Concelho

   The town hall faces the Praça da República, with Renaissance-style features, arcades and two storeys. A stone with the town's old arms sits in the middle of the façade. In the south-west corner, a carved stone with a scowl is said by locals to show Dom Paio Peres Correia, the master of the Order of Santiago who took the city from the Moors.

   

5. 5Mercado da Ribeira

   The Ribeira Market opened in 1887 and sold food until 1999, when the new municipal market opened. It is a single-storey rectangular building with four entrances, and two metal-framed pavilions cover its large interior. Today it holds shops and restaurants, and its central courtyard hosts concerts and shows.

   

6. 6Ponte Romana

   Tavira's old bridge has seven arches and is over 80 metres long. People long believed it was Roman, but it has only existed from the medieval period onwards, and it had major building work around 1655. A violent flood in 1989 partly destroyed it, and for centuries it was the Algarve's main connection point; today it is for pedestrians only.

   

7. 7Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo

   Members of the Third Order of Carmel began this church in 1744, and its façade was only finished in 1792. It has a Baroque portal, and the interior is mainly Rococo, with a single nave and six side chapels. The vault over the chancel is painted with feigned architecture.

   

Hear the full story as you walk, or create your own walk, in the Alleytale app.