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[ Vila Nova
de Cacela, Montegordo, Vila
Real de Sto. António ]
In the town centre
stands an obelisk, a vertical symbol of the power of
a King and his prime minister. The streets are arranged
on a grid pattern, as stiff and straight as soldiers
on parade, leading off from a broad, open square. The
façades of the houses repeat the balanced forms
of a sober and restrained architectural style. Vela Real
de Santo António is a perfect example of ideals
of The Enlightenment of the 18th century put into practice.
The town's formality contrasts with the gentle landscapes
along the banks of the Guardiana where, here and there,
esplanades provide oases of cool and welcome relief from
the heat of the sun.
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Vila Real de Santo António's
origins can be traced back to a specific date - December
30, 1773 - the day on which the Royal Charter founding
the town was signed. The town was built quickly- the
contingencies of policy towards Spain and the iron will
of the Marquis of Pombal, prime minister of King José I
(1714-1777) meant that it had to be. The task of marking
out the street plan was started on March 2, 1774 and
by August 6 the Town Hall, the Customs House and the
barracks had already been completed, and the church was
in its early stages.
The end of the 19th century and the decades that followed were a time
of prosperity for Vila Real de Santo António. The presence of
sardines and tuna in the waters off the Algarve coast turned the town
into a major canning centre, while its port was much frequented by the
ships that sailed up the Guardiana to load the ore dung from the mines
at São Domingos. One indication of the dynamism and wealth of
the town at this stage is that it was the first place in the Algarve
to have gas lighting in 1886. The municipality's history does not however
begin with the foundation of Vila Real de Santo António. This
part of the coast has been inhabited since ancient times, as can be seen
from the dolmen and tholos - a beehive shaped tomb - in Nora near Cacela.
Under the Romans and later the Moors, Cacela became an important town.
After its castle was captured by Paio Peres Correia, master of the Order
of Sant'Iago in 1240, Cacela was the jumping -off point of the reconquest
of the whole of the Algarve.
Today, Vila Real de Santo António and its municipality have in
the tourist trade that has frown up around its magnificent beaches, fishing
agriculture and commerce the mainstays of an economy that is expanding
and diversifying
In the 16th century a town called Vila de Santo António de Arenilha
stood near the site of the present town, though most probably nearer
to the sea. By the 18th century it had disappeared, swallowed up by the
waves and the shifting sands. There remained a need, however, to control
the arrival of merchandise via the Guadiana, to keep the fisheries of
Monte Gordo under royal supervision and to present a firm face to Spain,
with whom a war had been fought in 1762/1763. More that an act of pure
royal will, the construction of Vila Real de Santo António was
inspired by pressing economic and political motives.
The experience gained in rebuilding Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake
was put to good use in Vila Real de Santo António. Firstly in
the care full planning of the urban structure, a task made easier by
the flat lie of the land. Then in the use of rigid architectural modules.
Lastly the prefabrication of standardized building materials, such as
stone blocks, which were brought by boast from Lisbon, cut and dressed
ready to be put into place immediately on arrival.
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Built in the 18th century this church has since suffered fire damage
on a number of occasions. In the side chapels there are retables in
the "rocaille " style. The church contains a fine collection of 18th
century statues, most notable among which is a Nossa Senhora da Encarnção
or Our Lady of the Incarnation by the sculptor Machado de Castro. The
stained glass windows in the main chapel and the baptistery, which
were installed in the 1940's, are but the Algarvean artist, Joaquim
Rebocho.
Home to an exhibition of
works by the painter and engraver
Manuel Cabanas, who was born
in the Municipality and for whom
the museum is named. It contains
the larges collection of wooden
engravings in Portugal, as well
as an interesting collection
of more that 200 stones that
were once used as part of the
lithographic process to print
designs on tins of tuna and sardines.
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Cacela
is a small town west of Vila Real
de Santo António. Settled
by the Romans, Cacela wasan important "Villa" connected
with the fishing and fish salting
industries. Several tanks used
in the latter process have been
discovered. During the period of
Moorish occupation it had a defensive
rampart and after the Christian
reconquests it was a town with
a Charter granted by King Dinis
in 1283.
The gradual silting o the Pedra Alva river, which runs close by, and
the formation of the strip of dunes making up the Ria Formosa, left
Cacela cut off from the sea and from activities related to the sea
and contributed to a decline in its population. The "coup de grace" was
delivered by the earthquake of 1755, which was delivered by the 1755
earthquake, which devastated Cacela. As a result it lost the stature
of town and was merged with the territory of the newly founded Vila
Real de Santo António. Today Cacela Velha is a small town of
farmers and fishermen, with white washed single-storey houses and a
magnificent view over the sea and the vast dunes of the Ria Formosa.
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With its origins in the 13th century building, of which all remains are
a smallgothic side porch. The present church dates from the 16th century
and was rebuilt in the 18th. It boasts a renaissance portico, with busts
of the Apóstolos São Pedro and São Paulo and ornate
pilasters. The interior consists of three naves, with ogival arches held
up by columns with bases and capitals decorated with hemispheres and
rope motifs. The chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Mártires or Our Lady
of the Martyrs has a painted vault and Renaissance arch. There is a statue
of Nossa Senhora da Assunção - Our Lady of Assumption dated
back to the 18th century and two of Christ from the 16th century. This
church's holy treasures include a processional cross in wrought iron
decorated with figures.
Polygonal in shape the fort was rebuilt at the end of the 18th century.
Flowing between hills bight with the colours of wild flowers and the
green of cork oaks and pine, the Guadiana river has for centuries marked
the frontier between Portugal and Spain. From Vila Real de Santo António
boat trips run regularly up the river and provide an opportunity to become
acquainted with a different Algarve. Among the sights to be seen are
villages of whitewashed houses that seem to spill seen the slopes to
the water's edge and the thousand-year-old castle at Alcoutim proudly
standing guard over the river.
For centuries fishermen's shacks were the only sign of human life on
the broad sands surrounded by pinewoods. The beauty of the beach and
the warm, safe waters attracted the first foreign tourist in the 60s
making Monte Gordo something of a pioneer in the development of tourism
in the Algarve. Today it is an international tourist destination and
counts a casino amount its more urbane attractions.
A lighthouse marks the location of this calm, family beach, with its
long sweep of sand. Support facilities.
This is a tourist spot that still manages to preserve something of the
flavour of a fishing village. There is a long beach. Support facilities. |
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