Tourist Attractions in Lagos

These eventually succumbed to the Portuguese kings and Sancho II was able to take the town in the mid 13th C. In the centuries that followed it developed into an important ship building town and port, thanks partly to Henry the Navigator. It was also from here that Gil Eanes, who was born in Lagos, set sail in 1434 to become the first seafarer to round Cape Bojador in West Africa. The voyages of discovery brought Lagos fame and fortune. Trade flourished, and the slave trade with it the first slaves from Africa were auctioned in 1443 in a building on the present Praça da República. Lagos became the capital of the historical province of Algarve in 1577 and remained so until 1756, the year following the destruction of much of the town by an earthquake. Its subsequent decline in importance was only halted in the late 20th C. when tourism has brought new prosperity.

Townscape

The outer districts of Lagos, with their tower blocks and large apartment buildings, are really rather ugly. The town center is much more attractive. Although it has developed into a typical tourist center it still has the feel of a pleasant compact town which has retained its own character. Parts of the old town are still surrounded by the medieval wall. A small area in the center around the Praça Gil Eanes and the Praça da República is now a pedestrian precinct. There are many small shops and a plethora of restaurants and cafs with tables outside.