The gentle sea, kilometers of sand beaches, and the hot southern sun have won the picturesque Portuguese city of Faro the fame of a popular European resort and the best summer vacation place for families. But those who are more likely to not choose comfortable beach chairs and warm ocean waves but fascinating tours to ancient churches, monasteries, castles, and palaces will not be bored here either. Faro is a real Mecca of ancient Portuguese architecture. The pre-Roman peoples, the Cynetes, the great Roman Empire, the formidable caliphate... Each conqueror of the fertile Portuguese lands left their mark in the history and culture of this amazing many-sided country. The ancient stones of the Roman Ruins of Milreu still keep an incredibly fabulous mosaic depicting exotic fish, the majestic cathedral – a 13th-century Gothic tower, and the light and airy white Carmo Church has a crypt with more than a thousand skulls of former monks and citizens.

The main gem of this colorful place is the Old City, which starts with the Faro City Arch (Arco da Vila) and its thousand-year-old stone masonry, ancient Greek columns, and a marble statue of Thomas Aquinas. The buildings of the Old City are very different from the modern Faro. This part of the city still has old whitewashed houses covered with terracotta tiles, cozy family restaurants in the shade of orange trees, and the world-famous calçada (Portuguese pavement with stone mosaics arranged in traditional floral ornaments).

Everything in the Old City has a long history, but the most ancient buildings are defensive walls that have been shielding Faro since the 3rd century BC. These high stone walls were built in pre-Roman times and were reinforced by the ancient Romans. The Moors also strengthened the city walls: first in the 9th century during the reign of a small Muslim kingdom, and then in the 12th century with the arrival of the caliphate. Simultaneously, two Byzantine towers were built, and the old walls got three entrances: the Faro City Arch, the Arch of Rest (Arco do Repouso), and the Arch of the New Gate (Arco da Porta Nova). By the way, all of them are preserved.