Bell Tower Of Sé Cathedral (Sé Cathedral)

The Sé of Faro sits at the top of the Cidade Velha, the walled old town, on a small square lined with orange trees. Its bell tower is the part of the building visitors notice first: a stocky, whitewashed-and-stone tower whose lower stages belong to the medieval church, while the upper levels and the roof were reshaped in later centuries. Climbing it rewards you with a view across the terracotta rooftops of Faro, the town walls and the shallow lagoons of the Ria Formosa, with the sea beyond the sandbars.

The cathedral stands on ground that has been sacred for a very long time. Tradition and archaeology point to a Roman temple, then an early Christian church and later a mosque on the same hill. After Faro was taken from the Moors in the middle of the 13th century, a Christian church was begun here in the Gothic style. The 1755 earthquake and earlier damage meant that much of what you see inside is the result of repeated rebuilding, which is why the Sé is a patchwork rather than a pure style.

Inside, the main nave is relatively plain, but the side chapels carry the richness: gilded Baroque woodcarving, panels of blue and polychrome azulejo tiles, and an 18th-century organ decorated in an Asian-inspired manner that people often describe as Chinese in style. A small museum of sacred art holds statuary, vestments and church silver. The Sé remains a working church, so Mass takes priority over sightseeing and visitors are expected to be quiet and appropriately dressed.

The cathedral is best combined with a slow walk through the rest of the old town. The Arco da Vila, the neoclassical gate beside the square, leads down to the marina, and the bishop's palace faces the cathedral across the open space. Cidade Velha, the walled quarter around the square, is only a few minutes' stroll, and the lagoon edge in the Ria Formosa Natural Park is not far beyond its walls.

Late afternoon is the pleasant time for the tower, one of the best viewpoints in the Algarve, when the light softens over the lagoon and the white houses turn gold. Storks nest on rooftops and chimneys around the old town for much of the year, and from the tower you may spot them as well as the boats that thread through the channels. Note that the climb is up narrow stairs and may not suit everyone, and access to the tower can depend on the day and staffing, so ask at the entrance when you buy your ticket. The Capela dos Ossos, the famous chapel of bones in Faro, is in fact part of the Carmo church across town and not part of the cathedral, so plan it as a separate stop.