About Loulé and it's Environs:

The market place in Loulé

History:

Archeologists have found remnants of human civilization dating back to the beginning of the palaeolithic. The actual town of Loulé is thought to have first been settled at the end of the neolithic. It's likely that these people lived in some of the many caves that about in the limestone of the region. They probably had a nomadic existence.

Evidence or iron age man is also found in this region. There is a great iron age fortress on ridge called Rocha da Pena. It's likely the area was quickly established asa colony by the Phoneticians and then the Carthaginians.

As with the rest of the region, it came to be occupied by the Romans, after the second punic war. Vestiges of vilas and temples can be found around Loulé.
Under the Moors, who settled in the region in the 7th century, the town was called Al-Ulya. It was a small and wealth city with a castle and city walls which even now can be seen. After the Christian reconquest in 1249 the Moors were settled in the Moorish quarter. It's distinct sinuous streets and small houses can still be seen. Loulé suffered particularly during this phase as trade links with Andalucia and Africa were cut. It entered a period of economic stagnation till the period of the Discoveries. During the 15th century it flourished somewhat trading wine and olive oil.

During the next two hundred years the town seems to have suffered repeated recessions. And often plundered by Moorish pirates.

The town prospered during the Baroque period and this left it's architectural mark on some of the buildings in the city. However during the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 a lot of these buildings were destroyed.

The town began to develop positively into the bustling city it is now with the improvement in communication, namely road and rail. The rail line in the Algarve was built in 1887. In this period the municipal market was built which a very distinctive and elegant building.

Sport:

Loulé has a rich sporting heriatage across many sports. It has a large and famous sporting club called “Louletano Desportes Clube” which has very successful rugby and football teams. Individually it has many swimmers of high caliber. In 1988 this club had a cycling team and won the Volta a Portugal with Cayn Theakson. The bike he won it on can still be seen, the centre piece of the clubs trophy room. Loulé also hosts the countries biggest cycling club, a mountain bike club called BTT Terras de Loulé.

Culture:

This town is very famous for it's carnival in February and it's market held every Saturday. Besides this there is a lot happening. Here is a link to the municipal cultural agenda: https://www.cm-loule.pt/index.php?option=com_agenda

Nature:

This municipality is characterized by being part of the “Barrocal” an intermediate sort of terrain between coast and mountains. As such it's rich in places of natural interest. Rocha da Pena is the one that stands out in my mind. It's a 2km long limestone outcrop with the biggest bat colony in southern Europe. It's a protected area, but remains quite accesible. “Fonte de Benemola” is another interesting area near by. It's a spring and a small nature reserve. On the coast between the crass developmernt there are little gems of places of natural interest. Like the lake at the beach in Quarteira.

Beaches:

 
The beaches in Loulé are quite varied but tend to be busy and not so nice in summer. The beaches at Quarteira are actually better of avoided as they are not nice. However praia do Ancão and others around Vale de Lobo are pleasant enough out of season.