Cacela and Fábrica

eastoffaro.com holidays in the Eastern Algarve, Portugal

Cacela and Fábrica

Cacela is in fact two towns; Cacela Velha - 'old' Cacela - and Vila Nova de Cacela - 'new' Cacela. Cacela Velha is a tiny, picturesque village with a fort and a church sitting on a cliff overlooking the lagoon and the sea. You can take nice walks through the country and along the lagoon shore of the Ria Formosa (at low tide) between Cacela Velha and near-by Fábrica. Golfers will be delighted by the 36 holes of Quinta da Ria and Quinta da Cima golf courses; great golf and beautiful courses with sea views and olive-lined fairways. Vila Nova de Cacela is an ordinary, unpretentious small town which has all the basic amenities including a small daily food market. Its one claim to fame is its street market, held on the 3rd Sunday of every month, which fills the entire town and temporarily doubles the population.

Cacela highlights

The view from the cliff wall at Cacela Velha
A meal overlooking the lagoon in Fábrica (but get there early in season)
The two courses for golfers

History

Cacela was once open to the sea, with the mouth of the Pedra Alva river making a small harbour. It was settled in Roman times and was a centre for fish salting. During the Moorish period (7th - 13th centuries) defensive ramparts were built. Cacela was the first point in the Algarve conquered by the knights of the Order of Sant'Iago under Paio Peres Correia in 1240. It was from here that the knights aided the army of King Afonso III in conquering and extending Portuguese rule to the whole of the rest of the Algarve by the end of the decade. Cacela was granted a town charter in 1283. The town's fortune waned with the gradual silting of the harbour and the formation of the sand barrier of the Manta Rota peninsula, causing a gradual decline in the town's population. Cacela was then devastated in the great earthquake of 1755. The village you see today dates from the end of the 18th Century.

Links

www.quintadariagolf.com