Calcela Velha

Today's the day ........................ to sit under the iron palm trees

We travelled southeast today along the Algarve coast towards the border between Portugal and Spain.  We spent an hour or so in the lovely old town of Tavira - and then eventually landed at the fortress of Calcela Velha.  It occupies a commanding position on the cliff top overlooking the Rio Formosa.

The Fortress was a place of strategic importance on the Algarve coast, as a look-out point and port of shelter, part of the maritime route between Algeciras and the Atlantic coast as far as Lisbon.  According to historians, Cacela Velha and the nearby Algarve towns used to be a stopover for Phoenician and Greek travellers. 

This is Ron and Margaret sitting under a magnificent iron sculpture of a sort of palm tree - a modern day work of art that adds perfectly to the ambience of this very special place ..............................