faro's other bone chapel is here
Out front, a medieval tower with an ogival arch porch and what's left of the original church. Construction began in 1251, two years after the reconquest. In 1596, the English troops of Robert Devereux sacked and burned the church. In 1722 and 1755, two earthquakes did the rest. What you see today is what was rebuilt in between.
The cathedral became the episcopal seat of the Algarve in 1577, when the Diocese was transferred from Silves to Faro. Inside, three naves separated by Doric columns, with the chancel and side chapels rebuilt in successive phases. Only the chapels in the transept arms remained Gothic.
The great organ dominates the nave: it was built between 1715 and 1716 by Johann Heinrich Hulenkampf, a German organ builder from the Arp Schnitger school based in Portugal, and painted in chinoiserie in 1751 by Francisco Correia da Silva, an artist from Tavira. The red and gold paintings with Chinese motifs make it unmistakable.
The bone chapel of the cathedral is the smaller one, and most people mix it up with the other one at the Carmo. This one uses remains from the old cathedral cemetery and is now reduced to little more than one wall. Go up the bell tower before you leave. The view takes in the old town, and the Ria Formosa stretches out to the south.
what you'll find inside
- the 13th-century medieval tower with ogival arch porch, survivor of the original church
- three naves separated by Doric columns, with the chancel and side chapels rebuilt after 1596
- the great organ of 1715-16, with chinoiserie paintings from 1751
- the Gothic chapels in the transept arms, the only ones to survive the earthquakes
- the bone chapel from the old cathedral cemetery, distinct from the Carmo one
- the bell tower climb, with views over the old town and the Ria Formosa
