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    Positioned at the meeting point of the River Alvor and the Atlantic, the town of Alvor retains much of the charm of the small fishing village it was in the past. Still today, the fishing boats gather at the quayside fish market after the day’s fishing. The charming narrow cobbled streets of the old town are lined with typically Algarvian white low houses and there are a number of fine fish restaurants and pleasant bars.

There has been a settlement on or near the spot of the present town since, at least, Neolithic times. Since then it has been occupied by Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths and Moors. During the Islamic period (711-1250), Alvor was a rich and thriving port, however a fleet of 55 vessels, bearing Crusaders en route to the Third Crusade, stormed the town and its castle in 1189, putting some 6,000 inhabitants to the sword and subjected the locale to a thorough pillage, before continuing on their way to join Richard I’s forces in Palestine. The town was re-taken in a Moorish counter offensive launched from Morocco in 1191 and was not finally conquered by the Portuguese Christians until 1250.

The castle has all but disappeared save for two lengths of wall, which today, have houses built against them. The main parish church originally built in the 16th century was extensively renovated in the late 18th century after the earthquake of 1755. it possesses one of the most intricately decorated and admired Manueline main entrances in the entire Algarve. Meanwhile, the sacristy is a former Islamic Marabout’s cell, indicating that the church was built on the site of the former mosque or other Islamic holy place, as often occurred when a Moorish town fell to Christendom.