Faro, the Algarve’s capital and Portugal’s southernmost city, has a particularly attractive old centre still surrounded by Roman walls. Inside a spacious open square that was once the Roman Forum is a 13th century cathedral facing the 18th century Episcopal Palace. Faro also claims one of the best examples of gold-leaf woodwork in southern Portugal in the church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo. Other churches noteworthy are the Misericordia church dating back to the 16th century and Nossa Senhora de Assunçao built in 1518.
Faro is also the home of the Ria Formosa Lagoon, a nature reserve of over 170 square kilometers and a stopping place for hundreds of different birds during the migratory period in Spring and Autumn.