Situated in the extreme Southwest of the
Algarve
, region of Portugal, Lagos was born under the sign of the sea.
This settlement, whose origins are lost in the far distant past, has been determined by the
geographical shape of its bay. In fact, the first inhabitants probably come as far as the
Neolithic period. People came from the Mediterranean basin – Phoenicians, Greeks and even Carthaginians.
Fortaleza de Lagos
The ancient city centre would have already emerged in the time of the Carthaginians
bearing a definitive name – Lacóbriga.
Various coins, remains of town walls, beautiful floor tiles prove the military, economic
and cultural importance that Lacóbriga attained during the peak period of the Roman
Empire that dominated the whole Mediterranean Sea.
The fall of the Roman Empire and after the conquest of the south of the Peninsula by the
Arabs veiled this town with an obscure mystery; they called the city of Zawala.
Lagos Walls
In 1332 the Portuguese king D. Afonso IV ordered the restoration of the town walls and placed the
Algarve
Military Government Headquarters within in it.
It is in Lagos that the famous scion of the Portuguese Royal Family, Infante D. Henrique or
Prince Henry the Navigator chose to settle and from it the great adventure of the Portuguese
Discoveries began.
In 1434 Gil Eanes sailed from Lagos, to surpass Cabo Bojador and in 1441, the first African
slaves were brought in creating the first Slave Market, which building is still standing today
in central Lagos.
Marina de Lagos
In 1504 D. Manuel I gave to Lagos a new city charter and later, in 1578, D. Sebastião
raised Lagos to the status of a city, and from its harbor left on a fatal expedition against
the Moors in North Africa from which he never returned.
In 1755 the city was almost destroyed by an earthquake; however it re-emerged from its ashes and ruins.
Today, the town still retains the atmosphere of its great cosmopolitan heritage, a fact readily visible
to the visitor in its wealth of architecture and monuments.
