Loulé and the Farmers' Market

Saturday we went, as planned, to the town of Loule, which is apparently one of the Algarve's (the Algarve is the most southern of Portugal's 11 provinces and spans the full width of Portugal from east to west.) largest inland towns with a population of about 20, 000. I think I included a short piece on Loule in a 2009 post so here just a short note. To orient, Loule is north and east of Albufeira where we are staying - about 45 minutes by bus. Its existence dates back to Roman times and it boasts restored Moorish castle ruins from the 14th or 15th century when the Moors ruled most of the Iberian peninsula, including much of what is now Portugal. Loule appears to be best known for its excellent farmers' market and its Carnaval, a Mardi Gras equivalent, which takes place just before lent. We missed it this year but were at the parade last year - there are several photos in blog posts from last year. It was great! Check out the blog post and photos from late February 2009.

Other notable events include an Easter Sunday festival, Nossa Senhora da Piedade (Our Lady of Piety), linked to ancient maternity rites which involves a ceremonial transport of a 16th century image of Senhora da Piedade from a chapel on a hilltop 2 Km north of Loule, into the town to the parish church. Two weeks later apparently a huge gathering of devotees line the steep route to the hilltop chapel to witness the return of Nossa Senhora to the chapel.

During the 500 or so years of the rule of the Moors they shaped the culture, agriculture and architecture of the Iberian peninsula. In spite of lingering ambivalence about the Moor's "occupation" among some, the legacy of the Moors remains prominent in architecture such as the Alhambra, large and elaborate mosques, the Real Alcazar in Spain to smaller reminders such as the above mentioned Moorish castle ruins in Loule and the unique and ubiquitous "chimney pots" on buildings in the Algarve and elsewhere in Portugal (a bit more about chimney pots in a later post). Agricultural products which we bought at the Loule market today and for which this area is famous, such as oranges, lemons, figs and almonds, were also introduced by the Moors. Even the recently refurbished Farmer's Market building in Loule has a Moorish touch (e.g. the arches and corner turret) as you can see in the first of the photos. Some of the market is inside the building (photo 2) but many stalls are in the streets on either side of the building (photos 3, 4 and 5).