We decided to head south for the New Year's break.
170 miles south.
To Faro.
Faro is the capital city of the southernmost region of Portugal (the Algarve). It's an ideal city if you want to discover a charming and authentic Portuguese experience.
Our hotel was charming - and maybe a little bit on the small side.
Historic Faro is encircled by ancient city walls and contains a Gothic cathedral, the Bishop's palace and pretty cobbled backstreets.
Capela dos Ossos
(Bones Chapel)
Seems a little creepy but I guess it was common practice for bones to be exhumed from graves prior to the 19th century. This was often a necessity due to limited suitable space for burial and after a period of ten years the bones would be removed and placed in tombs - or - in this case - as wall coverings for the chapel!
Outside of the walls is the modern city. We enjoyed our 'pedestrianised' experience around the town.
There were stork nests everywhere!
There are, of course, many churches in the city. One of them is the beautiful Igreja do Carmo church.
We actually attended New Year's Day Mass there the morning we left!
But probably the main reason for our visit was to see the Capela dos Ossos (the bones chapel) which is located in the rear courtyard. (Yes, another bones chapel!!)
This chapel is lined with the bones of over 1,000 skeletons and these bones decorate the walls and ceilings in ghoulish geometric patterns.
Above the entrance of the bones chapel, you can find the text:
"Pára aqui a considerar que a este estado hás-de chegar".
"Stop here and consider, that you will reach this state too."
While in Faro, we even 'set sail' on a three-hour-tour to a deserted island (Ilha Deserta) and a not so deserted island (Farol Island).
As for New Year's Eve - we enjoyed a delicious fish dinner, scrumptious desserts, and then back to the hotel to await the fireworks over the bay.
There is a tradition in Portugal of toasting the new year with champagne and eating 12 raisins at midnight. Each raisin represents a month of the coming year, and while eating each raisin, one has to make a wish for that month.
(The hotel furnished both. We ate the raisins.😊)
"Stop here and consider, that you will reach this state too."
While in Faro, we even 'set sail' on a three-hour-tour to a deserted island (Ilha Deserta) and a not so deserted island (Farol Island).
As for New Year's Eve - we enjoyed a delicious fish dinner, scrumptious desserts, and then back to the hotel to await the fireworks over the bay.
There is a tradition in Portugal of toasting the new year with champagne and eating 12 raisins at midnight. Each raisin represents a month of the coming year, and while eating each raisin, one has to make a wish for that month.
(The hotel furnished both. We ate the raisins.😊)
(Hope you remembered to eat those raisins!!)
Oh darn! I forgot the raisins! We did have some sparkling cider though, so maybe that was good enough ;)
ReplyDeleteThose bone chapels though! Such a weird idea... But talk about resourceful!