Secrets of Rural Algarve

Mãe Soberana Shrine - Loulé 1 2 Santa Maria do Castelo Church - Tavira 2 Roman Road - S. B. de Alportel the Serra do Caldeirão do Serra the From the Barrocal to to Barrocal the From From the Barrocal Through the Rural Algarve Rural to the Serra 1 Serra do Caldeirão 2 Secrets of of Secrets Loulé > Paderne S. Brás de Alportel > Tavira In an area noted for the hospitality The gentle undulation of the hills of its people we go in search of invites us to discover landscapes age-old skills, castles, springs and Folk dancing - Alte 1 Paderne Castle 1 and places that conceal veritable churches. Among thymes and carob Loulé Market 1 Fonte da Benémola 1 treasures of craftwork, architecture trees, we visit viewpoints, reservoirs and local cuisine. However, the and streams. Our gaze is arrested by unforgettable part is hobnobbing the singular beauty of the willows with the friendly and down- and ash trees. to-earth people of the hills. Our route takes us through Spanish lavender, thyme, As we enter the Serra do Caldeirão, we enter another rock roses, carob trees and cork oaks, passing time with Algarve, that of genuine folk, traditional crafts and excellent the hospitable local people over carob or bran bread, cuisine. The scenery changes colour as we progress. The medronho and chorizo. We admire the local crafts, the green of the eucalyptus, cork oak and pine forests gives way product of age-old skills. Palm leaf baskets and mats, Cachopo 2 to fields of wheat and barley. In the valleys between the hills leather belts and bags, copper, iron, brass or pottery the sound of running water is everywhere. Here and there wares, patchwork and linen or cotton items. We go in S. B. de Messines Mother Church 1 2 Costume Museum - S. B. de Alportel we meet people going about their daily work in the fields: a search of castles and fortifications from the times of the cork cutter, a shepherd, a miller, a woman working at a loom. Celts to the Moors, and streams of crystal-clear water We tread narrow cobbled streets and admire chimney that in earlier times powered watermills. We visit Roman pots, ovens, pitched roofs, whitewashed walls, courtyards bridges, churches showing Moorish influence or from the and stone benches outside houses. We enter museums Renaissance or Baroque periods. and experience the stories of the past. We discover the We climb up to viewpoints on the summit of rocky skills and techniques that still survive in the local craftwork. massifs and immerse ourselves in the waters of reservoirs Walking instils an inner peace and the pure air is perfumed and streams. We admire the beautiful scenery and with the scent of rock roses, Spanish lavender and the observe the local fauna and flora. Our gaze is arrested by Mediterranean scrub. To satisfy all our senses, all we lack are the singular beauty of the willows and ash trees. cheese, wine, brandy, sausages, bread and filhós pastries. Tavira 2 Cultural Heritage Local Products Credits Cultural Heritage 1 Calçadinha Roman Road 21 Santa Catarina Agricultural 1 Walls of Loulé Castle 2 Calçadinha de São Brás de Alportel Cooperative Publisher and Copyright Owner 2 Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Roman Road Interpretation Centre Turismo do Algarve 2012 © February Conceição 3 São Brás de Alportel Mother Church [email protected] 3 Loulé Mother Church 4 Bishop’s Palace Garden www.turismodoalgarve.pt Natural Heritage www.visitalgarve.pt 4 Espírito Santo Convent 5 Arts and Crafts Centre 5 Mãe Soberana Shrine 6 Ethnographic Museum of Algarve Registered Office 8 Querença Church Furnazinhas Costume 9 Fonte Férrea de Alportel Av. 5 de Outubro, 18 18 7 Chapel of São José 12 Fonte Férrea de Cachopo 9 Stone Cross Vale 8000-076 Faro, Algarve, Portugal 15 do Pereiro 16 17 19 8 Alportel Museum 20 Pego do Inferno 12 Ruins of Salir Castle Mealha Casas Baixas Telephone: 289 800 400 13 Salir Archaeological Interpretation 12 10 Barranco do Velho Chapel 27 Tavira Island Fax: 289 800 489 14 Centre Loulé Castle 1 13 11 Feiteira Centre for the Discovery of Malhão Almada de Ouro the Rural World Coordination 18 Alte Mother Church 15 Marketing Department 20 São Bartolomeu de Messines Mother Azinhal 13 Cachopo Museum Feiteira Cork Turismo do Algarve Church 16 11 14 Church of Santo Estevão Cortinhola Sarnadas [email protected] 21 João de Deus House Museum Água 15 Pedras Altas Dolmen 12 de Fusos 22 17 14 13 16 Masmorra Dolmen Graphic Design and Layout 23 Fonte de Paderne Soidos Pena 20 21 DCB design 25 Medieval Bridge 17 Circular Houses 9 18 19 10 10 26 Paderne Castle 11 18 Mealha Centre for the Discovery of Texts 8 6 7 the Rural World 27 Paderne Mother Church 9 Umbria Archives of Turismo do Algarve Alportel Palheirinhos 25 19 Casas Baixas Centre for the Discovery 23 8 7 Eiras Altas of the Rural World Photography Tesoureiro 24 26 5 20 Hélio Ramos, Luís da Cruz, F32, Archives 27 2 4 4 Fonte do Bispo 21 Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo of Turismo do Algarve (Pedro Reis, Hugo 5 3 6 3 2 1 21 22 Mother Church Local Products 1 Santos, Rafaela Oliveira) 26 23 Palácio da Galeria 23 27 24 24 Tavira Castle Translation 10 Regional chorizos and rag dolls 25 Euroscript Portugal, Lda. 25 Carmo Church 26 Roman Bridge Distribution Alte 1 free Natural Heritage Cover Querença Mother Church 1 Salir Key 6 Fonte Filipe ROUTE 1 7 Cerro dos Negros LOULÉ > PADERNE 11 Fonte Benémola Barranco PROTECTED LANDSCAPE 14 Rocha da Pena ROUTE 2 15 Malhão Viewpoint RAILWAY S. BRÁS DE ALPORTEL > TAVIRA 16 Quinta do Freixo 1 2 3 4 EN 17 Rocha dos Soidos Lisboa Co-financed by 0Km 5Km 10Km PRINCIPAL ROADS 19 Fonte Pequena and Fonte Grande de Alte Faro 22 Funcho and Arade Reservoirs SECONDARY ROADS 24 Ribeira de Quarteira Useful Information São Bartolomeu de Messines Nossa Senhora da Piedade, the patron saint of Loulé. The land we are crossing is part of the Quinta do Freixo (16), an agricultural mulberry plantation, one of the biggest in the region. September Fair: 20 - 21 September We return to Loulé to join the EN 396 in the direction of the village of estate with a hunting reserve, farmhouse accommodation and organic We return to the EN 124 and then join the EN 270 to Paderne. Built on the Loulé Winter Hill Fair: last weekend in From the Barrocal Querença, on the boundary between the Barrocal and the Serra. Before produce. We stop in Sarnadas to sample the local cuisine. Continuing in slope of a hill, Paderne is a white-walled village that looks for all the world Services and Official Bodies November or 1 December Municipal Councils: we reach Querença, there are two unmissable natural heritage places to the direction of Alte, we make a detour to ascend the 467-metre Rocha dos like a Christmas crib. Just before the entrance to the town, signposts point Craft Fair / Loulé: June and July 1 Loulé 289400600 to the Serra see. In Amendoeira we make a detour to Fonte Filipe (6), a place of great Soidos (17), a natural viewpoint with views over the rolling hills and the sea the way to Paderne Castle. Halfway there we come across an 18th century Silves 282442325 natural beauty on the course of the Ribeira das Mercês, whose waters on the southern horizon. spring (23). Shortly after, as the road begins to rise, we take a beaten earth Albufeira 289599500 Events and Festivals have medicinal properties. For those prepared for a walk, the Cerro dos Alternatively, we can take the Via Algarviana long distance footpath (GR by-road to the right and passing underneath the large bridge carrying the Health Centres: FuQuerençarnazinhas Carol Meeting: January Loulé > Paderne Querença Chouriça Sausage Fair: last Negros (404m) (7), near the turn to Querença, provides sweeping views 13) between Salir and Alte, passing through the hamlet of Benafim and the Via do Infante, we continue straight ahead for the watermill and weir on Loulé 289416513 Vale Querença 289422942 weekenddo Pereiro in January over the coast. Up there in the village there is a beautiful small church scenery of Rocha da Pena and Quinta do Freixo, enjoying this walking route the Ribeira de Quarteira (24). This is a delightful spot with running water, Salir 289489200Casas Baixas Alte Carnival: Sunday and Tuesday of (8) dating from the 16th century, with an attractive Manueline door. flanked by stone walls, scoop wheels and rural houses. the basis of a traditional milling system that used the motive force of Alte 289478174 Carnival Opposite the church stands a stone Cross (9). In the village they make We reach Alte, a village with traces of Roman occupation where Moorish water to drive the waterwheels. These watermills predate windmills and São Bartolomeu de Messines 282339252 Loulé Carnival: Sunday, Monday and Rocha da Pena Boliqueime Mother Church traditional puddings, liqueurs, one of the most sought-after chorizos in Malhão Almada de Ouro culture has strikingly influenced the local architecture. are a relic of the Moorish period. Following the stream, downstream in the 15 National Republican Guard: Tuesday of Carnival the region and rag dolls (10) dressed in traditional costumes depicting Alte’s cultural heritage includes the Mother Church (18), with its rich Baroque valley southeast of the castle we come to a medieval bridge (25) in the Azinhal Loulé 289410490 São Bartolomeu de Messines Culture various occupations. Leaving Querença, we continue in the direction of carvings and tilework, 15th century vaulting, Manueline door and baptismal Roman style, rebuilt in 1771, with three arches and two cutwaters in the 16 Salir 289489136 Week: one week in March Cortinhola Fonte Benémola Classified Site (11), where lovers of fauna and flora will fonts, and the Church of São Luís.

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