Tavira Island

Santa Luzia is a freguesia (parish) in the municipality of Tavira (Algarve, Portugal). The population in 2011 was 1,455, in an area of 8.50 km2. It is considered the "capital do Polvo" or "capital of octopus" which is a local speciality.

Balsa was a Roman coastal town in the province of Lusitania, Conventus Pacensis (capital Pax Julia). The modern location is in the rural estates of Torre d'Aires, Antas and Arroio, parish of Luz de Tavira, county of Tavira, district of Faro, in Algarve, Southern Portugal. Although having been one of the biggest Roman cities of Lusitania at the time, only in 2019 did excavations finally reveal remnants of Balsa.

Tavira (Portuguese pronunciation: [tɐˈviɾɐ] ) is a Portuguese town and municipality, capital of the Costa do Acantilado, situated in the east of the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal. It is 28 kilometres (17 miles) east of Faro and 75 kilometres (47 miles) west of Huelva across the river Guadiana into Spain. The Gilão River meets the Atlantic Ocean in Tavira. The population in 2011 was 26,167, in an area of 606.97 km2. Tavira is the Portuguese representative community for the inscription of the Mediterranean Diet as a Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.

Santiago is a former civil parish in the municipality of Tavira, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Tavira (Santa Maria e Santiago).

Luz de Tavira e Santo Estêvão is a civil parish in the municipality of Tavira, Portugal. It was formed in 2013 by the merger of the former parishes Luz de Tavira and Santo Estêvão. The population in 2011 was 4,535, in an area of 59.91 km².

Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo is a church in Tavira, Portugal. It is classified as a National Monument. It is believed this church was built in the 13th century after the Reconquista of the city of Tavira from Moors. The church was built as an initiative of the Order of Santiago (1242) by D. Paio Peres Correia to replace the Arab mosque that existed here. The mosque is believed to have served the Medina (fortified city) of Tavira. The mosques existence hasn't been proven archaeologically. However, in 1718, a tomb was found with a corpse and an Alfange (type of Moorish sword). At the time, it was decided to bury it again with the Alfange.

The Castle of Tavira (Portuguese: Castelo de Tavira) is a medieval castle located in the parish of Santiago, Tavira municipality, Faro district of Portugal. In a dominant position over the mouth of the river Gilão, the settlement has developed as an important sea port since antiquity, with its predecessors dating back to the 8th century BC, passing through the hands of Phoenicians, Greeks, Celts, Carthaginians, Romans, Moors and the Portuguese crown.

Igreja da Misericórdia de Tavira is a church in Portugal. It is classified as a National Monument.

Tavira (Santa Maria e Santiago) is a civil parish in the municipality of Tavira, Portugal. It was formed in 2013 by the merger of the former parishes Santa Maria and Santiago. The population in 2011 was 15,133, in an area of 147.99 km2.

The Gilão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒiˈlɐ̃w]) is a river in southern Portugal. It is approachable from the Atlantic Ocean, where it enters at the town of Tavira in the Algarve, 35 kilometres (22 mi) east of Faro. The river Gilão changes its name to Rio Séqua at the ancient bridge named Ponte Romana in the centre of Tavira. The river's source is located in the Serra do Caldeirão mountains of the central Algarve, at the confluence of the Asseca, Zimbral and Alportel rivers, the latter rising north of São Brás de Alportel. From here it flows in a southeasterly direction and passes through the Ria Formosa national park south of Tavira, eventually meeting the Atlantic Ocean between the barrier islands of Tavira and Cabanas. The channel is clear, but a bit meandering. There is a large tide swing of about 3 metres (9 ft) feet. There are extensive mariculture clam beds and salt pans near the sea. The name Gilão comes from Gil with doubtful origin but it sounds like the Old Norse word gill meaning stream.

Santo Estêvão is a former civil parish in the municipality of Tavira, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Luz de Tavira e Santo Estêvão.

The 1722 Algarve earthquake occurred on 27 December 1722. It was felt throughout the Portuguese region of Algarve and destroyed a large area in southern Portugal generating a local tsunami that flooded the shallow areas of Tavira. It is unclear whether its source was located onshore or offshore and, in any case, what was the tectonic source responsible for the event. Some scientific research work has concluded that the 27 December 1722 Algarve earthquake and tsunami was probably generated offshore, close to 37°01′N, 7°49′W. The 1722 earthquake was 33 years before the great earthquake of 1755 which remains a major event in Portuguese history, mainly due to its effects on Lisbon which was wiped out by structural collapse, fire and then the flooding from a tsunami that raced up the Tagus River. Most of the documentation of the 1722 Algarve seismic event was sent to Lisbon for archiving and became lost after the fire that followed the 1755 earthquake. But the few surviving written records of the 1722 earthquake describe a destructive series of events affecting several Algarvean localities with earth tremors so strong that they made the bells ring out in Tavira, Faro and Loulé. In Tavira a caravel moored on the river Gilão was left high and dry before the tsunami hit with the dumbfounded crew able to walk to shore. The magnitude is estimated to have been 7.8 on the Richter scale. The earthquake of 1722 was probably caused by a diapirism where dense rock from deeper levels under high pressure pierced shallower materials. As a result, buildings in Albufeira, Faro, Lagoa and Loulé were also severely damaged or, in some cases, destroyed. In the 2010s, studies of seismic risk estimated there would be around 12,000 deaths if an earthquake equal to that of 1722 occurred then during peak season, because population density was significantly higher in the coastal areas of Algarve in the early 21st century, when it had already become a popular international travel destination, than in the 18th century, and construction of high-rise buildings built without proper anti-seismic measures were pervasive in the decades preceding such studies.