History History

Evidence of human presence in the Algarve dates back to time immemorial, from the Neolithic and even the Palaeolithic, when Europe and Africa formed one continent. The large number of menhirs found in the district of Vila do Bispo is clear evidence of settlement, particularly those of Milrei and Padrão. The megalithic funerary temples of Alcalar were used for several generations in the third millennium before the beginning of the Christian era. The monuments in the eastern cluster of tombs in the necropolis are museumized and accessible to amateurs.

As home to ancient civilisations, the Algarve has been visited by peoples who live off the resources of its coasts. In antiquity, the Conios or Cynates settled in the Algarve in the 6th century BC. The Celts would have mixed with the Iberians. The Phoenicians established trading ports along the coast. The Carthaginians founded Portus Hanibalis (Portimão) around 550 BC.

The Romans incorporated the region into Lusitania and spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula. This belonging to the Roman Empire lasted from 200 BC to 410 AD, with the leading cities being Castro Marim, Faro, Silves and Lagos, where traces of their presence remain. During the Roman period, cultural and economic development was significant: olive oil and garum (a condiment made from fermented fish viscera) were the main export products. The rivers Guadiana (Anas) and Arade (Aradus) are used as a passage inland. The Villa Abicada and its beautiful polychrome mosaics with vegetal compositions and the peristyle mosaic of Milreu testify to the refinement of the period.

The Roman Empire was in decline, while Christian power was asserting itself. The^5th century was marked by barbarian invasions, in the Algarve as in the rest of the country, that of the Vandals, Sueves and Visigoths who dominated Lusitania until the invasion of the Moors

The arrival of the Moors will force the Christians to entrench themselves in the north of the Douro. When they took Lagos in 716, they renamed the city Zawaia, and Faro became Faraon. At that time, Silves was the focal point of the region due to its strategic location and the Moors made it their capital. They named the area between Faro and Seville Al-Gharb-al-Andalus (in the west of Andalusia).

More than five centuries of Moorish influences have left an indelible mark on the region, starting with its name. The long Moorish occupation of the territory, which lasted more than 500 years, is still evident in the names of the towns beginning with al-, in the architecture of the region, in the roof terraces or the white houses and their typical chimneys that still exist in many villages of the Algarve.

Alfonso VI, King of Leon and Castile, set out to reconquer Toledo, then under Muslim rule. He asked for help from the Crusaders, among them Henry of Burgundy, who answered the call to participate in the Reconquista. With the Muslims defeated, Alfonso VI granted the hand of his daughter to Henry. The latter receives as a dowry the county Portucalense, which extended from the Rio Minho to the Douro, and becomes Count of Portugal.

His son Afonso Henriques proclaimed himself the first king of Portugal and the Algarve in 1139, after winning the famous battle of Ourique against the Moors. He founded the Burgundy dynasty which reigned until 1383.

At the beginning of the 11th century, the Caliphate of Cordoba broke up into several small kingdoms known as taïfas. The Algarve is divided between the Algarve taïfa and that of Silves. These two kingdoms are conquered by the Taifa of Seville in 1051 and 1063. After the fall of the Almoravids in 1147, the taifa of Silves briefly regained its independence before falling under the yoke of the Almohads in 1151.

King Sancho I of Portugal seized Silves with the help of the Crusaders, but could not hold on to it. The part that the military religious orders will take in the reconquest of the south of the country explains the importance of the large domains that will be granted to them by the Crown.

Victory of the Iberian rulers and great Almohad defeat in Las Navas de Tolosa. The conquest accelerates.

D. Paio Peres Correia expels the Moors from Tavira after five centuries of presence.

With his throne assured and the internal situation pacified, King Alfonso III the Boltonese turned his attention to the objectives of reconquering the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim communities. With the help of military orders and the blessing of the Church, the war against the Islamic communities continued until 1249, with the capture of Faro, which marked the end of the occupation. He took the title of King of Portugal and the Algarve. The Algarve is the last territory of mainland Portugal to be attached to the Crown.

This victorious campaign provoked a diplomatic conflict between Portugal and Castile, which claimed that the Algarve should be returned to it. A two-year period of war ensues between the two countries. The marriage of Alfonso III with the infanta Beatrice of Castile helps to ease tensions and at the same time to enlarge the country since Beatrice receives from her father a region east of the Guadiana. In 1254, he cedes to King Alfonso X of Castile the part of his conquests located east of the Guadiana River, hence the names Spanish Algarve (since then included in Andalusia) and Portuguese Algarve.

The Treaty of Badajoz saw Castile recognise the Portuguese conquests and abandon its claims to the region and put a definitive end to the conflict, fixing the border on the Guadiana.

The Treaty of Alcanizes between Castile and Portugal defines the southern borders between the two countries. These borders still exist today and are among the oldest in the world.

As early as the 12th century, the practice of fishing had developed maritime life and soon Portuguese merchants were frequenting the fairs of Bruges or London, where they were minting salt, wine, oil and fish from their country. Denis I the Liberal and his successors in the Burgundy dynasty pursued this vocation and oriented the country towards overseas expansion.

Like the rest of Europe, Portugal is affected by the black plague and will experience a serious economic crisis, due to its population being halved during the epidemic. To ward off this crisis, Ferdinand I, the last ruler of the dynasty, encouraged national shipowners who were facing strong competition from foreigners.

Victory of the Portuguese under the command of Nuno Alvares Pereira, and of the English contingent over the Castilians in Aljubarrota. This victory allows John I of Aviz to sit on the Portuguese throne after receiving the approval of the Cortes.

After more than a century of famine and wars, the economy and the morale of the Portuguese are at their lowest point. King John I decided to open up to the world and to finance maritime explorations in order to promote trade and international commerce. Thus, from a small country lost at the bottom of Europe, Portugal became a predominant player in the discovery of the New Worlds and in the exploitation of the oceans. This beginning of maritime expansion gave new vigour to the land and to the people of the Algarve, at the forefront of the adventure. Thus, in 1415, he armed a fleet from Lagos for an expedition to Ceuta that would usher in the era of discovery.

In this impulse of great expeditions, one evokes a school of navigation founded by the Infant Henry the Navigator, Prince of Sagres, around 1417. It is said to have been a pioneer in navigation techniques, astronomy and cartography. Unfortunately, no references, archaeological remains or original documents have been found. Some people refute the existence of this school, while others support its existence, such as the historian Jaime Cortesão.

Despite the title of King of Portugal and the Algarve held by Alfonso III's successors, the Kingdom of the Algarve is in no way, if not in name, a separate state: its institutions and laws are the same as in the rest of Portugal. The name Algarve later extended to Portugal's overseas conquests. In 1471, after taking the Moroccan cities of Tangier, Ksar El Kebir and Asilah, King Alfonso V took the title of King of Portugal and the Algarve in the plural. This overseas Algarve lasted until 1769.

The port of Lagos gained increasing importance with the voyages of explorers such as Gil Eanes. These voyages were made possible by research and advances in shipbuilding and were due to the increased demand for slaves for the sugar mills that then appeared in the Algarve. Today, on Cape Sagres, a gigantic stone finger pointing towards the Atlantic clearly alludes to the courage of the bold sailors. Portugal imposed itself on the seas, constituting a vast colonial empire on every continent. In 1494, Christopher Columbus arrived in America and announced his discovery to the King of Portugal. The latter then asked Pope Alexander IV for the recognition of the new lands. A papal bull thus established a division of the New World between the kingdoms of Portugal and Spain.

This sailor, whose name is not very Latin, has left his mark on Lagos with his exploits and his aura. He spent his adventurous life making voyages to unknown territories in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator. He will be the first European to round Cape Boujdour, an expedition that will mark the launch of the Portuguese conquest beyond the seas.

The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed in 1494, dividing the world into two parts and establishing the respective areas of influence of the two Crowns. Nevertheless, for a country with a mini geographical base and a small population, it was becoming increasingly expensive to succeed in populating and protecting these new lands. To illustrate the disproportion between the size of the metropolis and the conquered empire, the Jesuit priest Padre Antonio Vieira, wrote: Para nascer: Portugal, para morrer o mundo ("To be born, Portugal; to die, the world")

The kings of Portugal, always alarmed by the Castilian expansion, had prepared by marriages the merger of the two crowns for their benefit. At the end of the Aviz dynasty, personal union with Spain was instituted in 1580.

Circumstances become less favourable: little by little the English and especially the Dutch cut off the long line of Portuguese counters. When the Dutch settled in Brazil and the African counters, the Portuguese blamed the Spanish monarchy for their defeat. They rose up on¹ December 1640 and proclaimed the Duke of Bragança king, the first of a dynasty that would reign until the establishment of the Republic in the 20th century.

Exhausted by the conflicts, Spain recognises Portugal's independence.

A violent earthquake destroys a large part of the Algarve, leaving only the ruins of most of the historic buildings. This devastating earthquake, felt throughout Europe, had its epicentre in the Atlantic Ocean nearly 200 km southwest of Cape St. Vincent. There followed a polemic among men of faith concerning the merits of urban civilization and divine mercy. It is said that Voltaire even found there the inspiration for the creation of his work Candide. During the reconstruction of the main cities, the administrative centre was transferred to Faro.

Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, known as the Marquis of Pombal, who headed the government between 1756 and 1777, is known for his policy of enlightened despotism. He undermined the hold of the Church and cracked down on the Jesuits who were expelled. In the Algarve, he tried to divide the diocese of Faro, with the creation of a new diocese in Vila Nova de Portimão, but this division was not recognized by the Pope.

In 1807, when Junot led the first Napoleonic invasion of the north, the Algarve was under the occupation of Manuel Godoy's Spanish troops. This occupation came to an end following Olhão's popular revolt against the French occupation. Following these events, fishermen from Olhão volunteered to go to Brazil to report to the Prince Regent the news of the expulsion of the French from the Algarve kingdom. The future John VI of Portugal will be able to express his gratitude to the inhabitants. He established the Royal Charter of 15 November 1808, which stipulated that Olhão's revolt was "the first signal for the restoration of the monarchy". The town was named Olhão da Restauração: privileges, liberties, franchises and honours made it equal to the largest cities of the Kingdom.

But the history of Portugal is also one of decadence, after the splendours of a two-headed kingdom divided between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro. The 19th century, marked by the independence of Brazil in 1822 and great political instability, opened a breach in the history of the nation-state.

Under Charles I, the monarchy became unpopular because of its waste. The king was assassinated and his son Manuel II (1908-1910) renounced the authoritarian regime and was driven out by a military coup. The Republic is proclaimed on 5 October 1910.

This very unstable Republic would not withstand the military uprising of May 1926. For five decades, the country will languish under Salazar's authoritarian regime

It was not until April 1974, during the Carnation Revolution, that Portugal was finally able to make its entry into modernity and prepare to join the European Community. In the wake of a difficult decolonisation through bloody wars, a pluralist democracy was established.

Anibal Cavaco Silva, a native of Loulé, is elected President of the Republic, succeeding Jorge Sampaio.

Faced with many challenges, the country will conclude in 2011 with the European Union and the IMF a financial aid package in exchange for an austerity programme. A way out of the crisis will take place thanks to an anti-austerity policy implemented since 2015 that will yield admirable results.

The "Little Thumb of Europe" is undergoing an evolution which is accompanied by a great economic success for the Algarve, attracting more and more investors. Today, Portugal is promising a stable and prosperous future for its people and for all those who have chosen to live in this country "à beira mar plantado " (Camões).