The Torre do Relógio, the city's landmark, and the old town centre of Albufeira
The neoclassical Mother Church, built in 1782, and the churches of S. Sebastião and Sant'Ana
The Castelo de Paderne and the medieval bridge of Paderne
The Municipal Archaeology Museum, housed in the former Paço do Concelho
Praia da Falésia and Praia dos Olhos de Água
about the place
Albufeira lies in the Algarve, with almost 30 km of coastline facing the Atlantic and the Barrocal to the north. The name comes from the Arabic al-Buħayra. The Romans called it Baltum; Afonso III took it in 1249 and D. Manuel I granted it a new royal charter on 20 August 1504, the date of the municipal public holiday. The earthquake of 1755 almost destroyed it. It lived off fishing and fish-processing factories until the 1960s, when it became one of the country's major tourist resorts; it has held city status since 1986. It has four parishes: Albufeira e Olhos de Água, Ferreiras, Guia and Paderne.
