Audio tour Ilha / Praia de Faro

The architectural walking Tour Ilha / Praia de Faro 

Ilha/Praia de Faro is part of Barra de Anção. It is about 8 km long and between 50 and 250 m wide. The island was almost deserted until the mid-19th century, after which a number of fishermen began to settle here. Until the 1960s, only fishermen lived on the island. In 1956, the island was transferred from the Maritime Domain to the Municipality of Faro, which provided the necessary infrastructure. Before the bridge was constructed in 1959, transport between Faro and the island was arranged via a ferry service, which departed from the 'Portas do Mar' landing stage in Faro.

For years the beach was used at weekends as a getaway for the wealthy people in Faro, but after the construction of the bridge and a bus service, the number of second homes (legal or illegal) on the island increased significantly. The western part of the island remained the area of the fishermen and the eastern part the zone for holiday homes and apartments.

It was during this period that a number of projects by architect Manuel Gomes da Costa were realized on the island. He designed the Hotel Aeromar and there are two beautiful villas in reasonable original condition to admire. There is also a villa by another 'modernist' architect António Vicente de Castro. There are also several villas in which the "visual language" of Manuel Gomes da Costa has been used, but which clearly differ in the 'specific details'. And then of course there are the various small beach houses with cozy terraces overlooking the lagoon or the Atlantic Ocean.

Go and find it out by your own with the architectural walking tour and discover the 'Miami Beach' of the Algarve with its special and varied buildings, its beach bars, restaurants and teracces. See here my video of a tour of the island.

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