The
Ria Formosa lagoon attracted humans from the
Palaeolithic age until the end of prehistory. The first settlements date from the fourth century BC, during the period of
Phoenician colonization of the
western Mediterranean. At the time, the area was known as
Ossonoba, and was the most important urban centre of southern Portugal and commercial port for agricultural products, fish, and minerals. led by
Yahia Ben Bakr who was succeeded in office by his son,
Bakr Ben Yahia, it became the capital of a short-lived princedom and was fortified with a ring of defensive walls. During the 500 years of Moorish rule, some Jewish residents of Faro made written copies of the
Old Testament. The Moors were
defeated and expelled in 1249 by the forces of the Portuguese King
Afonso III. With the decline of the importance of the city of
Silves (which was made the regional bishopric as
Diocese of Silves shortly during and properly after the Reconquista), Faro took over the role of administration of the Algarve area.
Portuguese Kingdom with its mixture of
Renaissance and
Baroque styles After Portuguese independence in 1143,
Afonso Henriques and his successors began an expansion and Christian repopulation into the southern Iberian territory which had previously been occupied by the Moors. Following the conquest by D.
Afonso III, in 1249, the Portuguese referred to the town as
Santa Maria de Faaron or
Santa Maria de Faaram. In the following years, the town became prosperous, due to its secure port and exploitation of
salt. Consequently, by the beginning of the
Portuguese Age of Discovery, the town was well positioned to become a leading commercial centre. In the 14th century, the
Jewish community began to grow in importance. In 1487, Samuel Gacon began printing the
Pentateuco in
Hebrew, the first book printed in Portugal. The Jewish community of Faro had long been a dominant force in the region, with many artisans and merchants contributing heavily to the economy and city development, but this level of prosperity was interrupted in December 1496 by an edict of
Manuel I of Portugal, expelling those who did not convert to
Christianity. As a result, officially, Jews no longer remained in Portugal. In the place of the Jewish village of Vila Adentro, the convent of Nossa Senhora da Assunção was founded and patronised by Queen Leonor, wife of the king. Manuel I promoted the development and expansion of the city; 1499 had the construction of a hospital, the Church of Espírito Santo (or Church of the Misericórdia), a customshouse, and a slaughterhouse, all near the shoreline. By 1540,
John III of Portugal had elevated Faro to the status of city, then in 1577, the bishopric of the Algarve was transferred from Silves, which retains a co-cathedral, to the present
Diocese of Faro. In 1597, the city was sacked by English privateers led by
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. The resultant fires damaged the walls, churches, and other buildings. At the same time, English troops seized the library of the
Bishop of Faro, then
Fernando Martins de Mascarenhas, which eventually became part of the collection of the
University of Oxford's
Bodleian Library. Among the looted books was the first printed book in Portugal: a
Torah in local Hebrew (Judeo-Español), printed by Samuel Gacon at his workshop in Faro. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the city was expanded, with a series of walls during the period of the
Restoration Wars (1640–1668), encompassing the semicircular front to the Ria Formosa. The western city of
Lagos had become the capital of the historical province of Algarve in 1577, but this all changed with the
1755 Lisbon earthquake. It affected many settlements across the Algarve, including Faro, which suffered damage to churches, convents (specifically the Convent of São Francisco and Convent of Santa Clara), and the episcopal palace, in addition to the walls, castle towers and bulwarks, barracks, guardhouses, warehouses, customshouses, and prison. Much of the greater devastation across the coastal and lowland regions was caused by a
tsunami, which dismantled fortresses and razed homes. Almost all the coastal towns and villages of the Algarve were heavily damaged by the tsunami, except Faro, protected by the sandy banks of the
Ria Formosa lagoon. With the capital Lagos devastated, Faro became the administrative seat of the region the following year, 1756. == Geography ==