I got this card from Isacle in one of my vacation RR groups from when I went to Yachats. Algarve, as you can see from this card, is the southern coast of Portugal. The name comes from Arabic for "the west". Algarve is divided into 16 municipalities, each represented with a small picture on the card. I'll just talk about a couple of them.
Loule (middle) is represented by the Castelo de Loulé, part of the medieval city walls of the town, now housing an archaelogical museum and city library.
Vila do Bispo (lower left) lays claim to the Cape St. Vincent lighthouse. This cape is named for a martyred priest of the 4th century, whose remains are supposed to have been brought or washed ashore here. There is a chapel marking the site of his grave. Legend has it that ten ravens watched over the temple, and when in the 12th century St. Vincent's remains were exhumed and taken to Lisbon to avoid desecration by the Muslims, the ravens followed and kept vigil from the rigging of the ship. The lighthouse was built in 1846, is the second most powerful in Europe, and oversees one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
A stamp from a set of four issued in September 2010 celebrating circuses.
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