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| Portimão port and fort ruins. (Gennadiy Skorokhod) |
The Algarve region of Portugal is full of stories, and they're not all happy endings. Explorers, princes, pirates and slaves are just part of the volumes of tales surrounding this rich maritime precinct along the southernmost coast of Portugal.
With SH Diana docked at Portimão, we disembarked into buses and drove southwest to the historic port of Lagos, which helped launch Portugal’s maritime expansion. Specifically, during the 15th century, it became an important base for Portuguese-sponsored voyages to places such as the present-day Canary Islands and the Azores. Prior to that, Phoenician and Carthaginian traders as well as Romans and Moors ventured to North Africa and the wider Mediterranean on commercial voyages.
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| Former slave market in Lagos (RE) |
The 1755 earthquake that all but destroyed Lisbon was also felt as far south as Algarve, specifically in the form of a highly destructive tsunami, as the coast was closest to the offshore epicentre (about 200km WSW of Cape St. Vincent). Towns like Lagos, Albufeira, Faro, and especially Portimão were destroyed by 10-15m waves.
Today, the coast that was once the lair of buccaneers and privateers now attracts holidaymakers and investors with low-rise condos all along the coast and adorning the dramatic cliffs. Those same cliffs, with centuries-old forts and castles built to discourage unwelcome visitors like Barbary corsairs, also contain numerous caves ideal for stashing contraband and treasure.
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| Exploring pirate caves along the Algarve coast (RE) |
Following our morning excursion, some of us embark on a fast RIB run along the shore, exploring several of these ancient hideouts.
Tomorrow we bid farewell to Portugal and head to Casablanca in Morocco.
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