"Branco's new Faro Page" a Faro Travel Page by Branco

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Faro is the administrative centre for the whole of the Algarve region with a population of 40.000 thousand people. The city has both Arab and Roman ruins but most of the present attractive older buildings were constructed after the earthquake of 1755 and the earlier one of 1532. The Moors who occupied the place in the 8th Century originally gave to it the name of Ossónoba and developed it into a trading port until 1249 when they were defeated by the forces of Dom Afonso III. With the decline of the importance of the City of Silves this town took over the role of administration of the Algarve area. The Earl of Essex sacked this town in 1596 with his fellow crusaders on their journey to the Holy Land and the collection of books taken from the palace of the Bishop of Faro became part of the Bodlean Library in Oxford, England. Another interesting item is that during the 500 years of Moorish occupation there were some Jewish inhabitants in Faro who were busily printing copies of the Old Testament.