Praia da Luz
Encyclopedia
Praia da Luz (ˈpɾajɐdɐˈluʃ), officially Luz, is a civil parish, village and resort
located about 6 km from the municipality of Lagos
in the Algarve, Portugal
. Also known as Luz de Lagos or Vila da Luz, "Praia da Luz", which means Beach of the Light, is used to refer to both the village and the beach. It had its origins as a small fishing village (the industry is now only found in isolated enclaves to the west), but has been transformed by several holiday-villa complexes into a tourist/vacation centre.
were discovered in the area of Serro Grande, that included various funerary tombs with galleries, dating to the Neolithic
period. In these sites there were vestiges of Neolithic implements, artefacts from the Iron Age, as well as a rock axe that was discovered in Espiche. The existence of human artefacts and shell mounds in the area is a constant, suggesting a human presence before organized civilization.
The Romans left behind the remnants of a spa, which represents one of the more important archaeological discoveries of the modern municipality. Following the decline of the Pax Romana, the Algarve began to be threatened by peoples from the lands of ancient Morocco
. The Arabs brought with them many of the fruit orchards that continue to exist in the foothills of Luz. Moorish rule in the Algarve resulted in the assimilation of the indigenous cultures, transforming the region into a major economic power.
The Christian conquest and Reconquista
resulted in the expulsion of the Moors from the Algarve, in the institutionalization of Christianity and the building of churches. During the Middle Ages, the parish was officially referred to as Nossa Senhora da Luz.
King Manuel I
, through his 1 June 1504 foral
, recognized the importance of Lagos, in the Kingdom of the Algarve, for the quantity of fish catches at the time (primarily of tuna and sardine caught in Luz). Three factories eventually developed in the region, the most recent developing in 1884, which served to conserve fish in olive oil, preceding the salting of sardine in the same fashion. These factories supported 100 workers, with the majority (60) women. Much later, another factory, in Espiche, was also constructed (but today only the ruins remain). Luz was also a major producer of fig
s (regularly exported to the fine sweets industry that developed), while wheat and barley were being cultivated in many of the parcels around the parish seat.
Much like many of the coastal communities of Portugal, Luz was suseptible to attacks by pirates from the North of Africa. Luz was frequently attacked by Moors, who plied the water of the Algarve, attacked small settlements, and pillaged the treasures of the churches and homes of its residences. The priest Vicente Benevides noted that the original image of Nossa Senhora da Luz was taken by the Moors in one of those raids. Forces loyal to the King discovered the image, and the King returned it to Luz, where he ordered the construction of a fortress to safeguard the image and protect the community. Within the fortress, a tower was constructed in 1624 and a wall was later added to circle the fortress, by the then Captain-General of the Kingdom of the Algarve, the Count of Pontével.
The parish of Luz was formally constituted in 1673. The origins of the settlement date to the construction of a fortress in the area of Luz, and the presence of fishermen along the coast, especially after the establishment of an industry in the 15th and 16th centuries, when sardine fishing employed around 90 men.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the parish of Luz was de-annexed from the main parish of Santa Maria.
The use of the name Praia da Luz is actually a recent trend in the vernacular. Introduced by sunbathers, it was first recorded in 1928, and its use increased rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, with the tourist influx. Yet there still remains a distinction between the modern civil parish of Luz, and the medieval centre, which latter includes the historical village.
Praia da Luz became more familiar to the international public in 2007, when on 3 May Madeleine McCann
disappeared from a holiday flat, as her parents ate at a nearby tapas
restaurant.
, and covers an area of 21.78 km². It is bordered to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, to the north by the civil parish of Barão de São João, to the east by Santa Maria and São Sebastião, and it is adjacent to the civil parish of Budens, in the municipality of Vila do Bispo. The parish includes three settlements (Luz, Espiche and Almadena).
The relief of the parish is marked by two mountainous areas, Montinhos da Luz (99 metres) and Montinhos do Burgau (68 metres), while four ravines flow from north to south: Ribeira do Vale de Barão, Ribeira de Almadena, Ribeira de Espiche and Ribeira da Luz. The beach in Praia da Luz is an intermediate-size Blue Flag beach
with two distinct zones: the white sand beach and rocky cliff zone, characteristic of the Algarve. While the waters are typically clean and transparent, its temperatures are variable, owing to the influence of the Atlantic currents.
Demographically, the older parish of Luz was a small centre. By the 18th century, following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake
, the region was decimated, and many of its residents abandoned the region. The development of the region only began in the second half of the 19th century. The census of 1893 indicated a population of less than 1712 inhabitants.
potting, was the predominant occupation in Praia da Luz until it was surpassed by tourism
in the 1980s; the resort industry developed around the old fishing
village.
Luz's beach and setting have attracted many visitors to the region, resulting in a shift from an economy based on fishing to one providing services for local tourists. Along the beach, many of the canning plants were closed and replaced by windsurfing and diving schools, as well as discos, restaurants and shops tailoring to the seasonal visitor. The once prominent casino closed, and was replaced by a local primary school, before becoming the seat of the parish government and health centre.
Similarly, many of the agricultural fields were purchased by developers, resulting in the building of many holiday villages, apartments, hotels and resorts.
Many of the fishermen became employees of the hotel industry, while the cannery employees, welders and farmers began working in civil construction.
The settlements of Luz have become holiday destinations for citizens primarily from the United Kingdom
, Ireland
, France
and Germany
, as well as local vacationers from within Portugal. In some cases, foreign tourists have chosen to make it their permanent home.
-era architectural motifs. There are many habitational structures that correspond to the estilo chão ("ground style") typical of the rural buildings that date back to the end of the 18th century. In the first half of the 19th century, many of the more official homes and buildings began to appear in the Algarvian Neo-baroque style. Meanwhile, the period was also marked by simple single-storey homes, covered in tiled roofs, typical of Luz.
Resort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
located about 6 km from the municipality of Lagos
Lagos, Portugal
Lagos is a municipality at the mouth of Bensafrim River and along the Atlantic Ocean, in the Barlavento region of the Algarve, in southern Portugal....
in the Algarve, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Also known as Luz de Lagos or Vila da Luz, "Praia da Luz", which means Beach of the Light, is used to refer to both the village and the beach. It had its origins as a small fishing village (the industry is now only found in isolated enclaves to the west), but has been transformed by several holiday-villa complexes into a tourist/vacation centre.
History
Historians Estácio da Veiga and José da Encarnação have proved that settlements of Luz have existed for millennia, and that many cultures have crossed the territory. At the end of the 19th century, various castrosCastro culture
Castro culture is the archaeological term for naming the Celtic archaeological culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian Peninsula from the end of the Bronze Age until it was subsumed in local Roman culture...
were discovered in the area of Serro Grande, that included various funerary tombs with galleries, dating to the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
period. In these sites there were vestiges of Neolithic implements, artefacts from the Iron Age, as well as a rock axe that was discovered in Espiche. The existence of human artefacts and shell mounds in the area is a constant, suggesting a human presence before organized civilization.
The Romans left behind the remnants of a spa, which represents one of the more important archaeological discoveries of the modern municipality. Following the decline of the Pax Romana, the Algarve began to be threatened by peoples from the lands of ancient Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. The Arabs brought with them many of the fruit orchards that continue to exist in the foothills of Luz. Moorish rule in the Algarve resulted in the assimilation of the indigenous cultures, transforming the region into a major economic power.
The Christian conquest and Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
resulted in the expulsion of the Moors from the Algarve, in the institutionalization of Christianity and the building of churches. During the Middle Ages, the parish was officially referred to as Nossa Senhora da Luz.
King Manuel I
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...
, through his 1 June 1504 foral
Foral
thumb|left|200px|Foral of Castro Verde - PortugalThe word foral derives from the Portuguese word foro, ultimately from Latin forum, equivalent to Spanish fuero, Galician foro, Catalan furs and Basque foru ....
, recognized the importance of Lagos, in the Kingdom of the Algarve, for the quantity of fish catches at the time (primarily of tuna and sardine caught in Luz). Three factories eventually developed in the region, the most recent developing in 1884, which served to conserve fish in olive oil, preceding the salting of sardine in the same fashion. These factories supported 100 workers, with the majority (60) women. Much later, another factory, in Espiche, was also constructed (but today only the ruins remain). Luz was also a major producer of fig
Common fig
The Common fig is a deciduous tree growing to heights of up to 6 m in the genus Ficus from the family Moraceae known as Common fig tree. It is a temperate species native to the Middle East.-Description:...
s (regularly exported to the fine sweets industry that developed), while wheat and barley were being cultivated in many of the parcels around the parish seat.
Much like many of the coastal communities of Portugal, Luz was suseptible to attacks by pirates from the North of Africa. Luz was frequently attacked by Moors, who plied the water of the Algarve, attacked small settlements, and pillaged the treasures of the churches and homes of its residences. The priest Vicente Benevides noted that the original image of Nossa Senhora da Luz was taken by the Moors in one of those raids. Forces loyal to the King discovered the image, and the King returned it to Luz, where he ordered the construction of a fortress to safeguard the image and protect the community. Within the fortress, a tower was constructed in 1624 and a wall was later added to circle the fortress, by the then Captain-General of the Kingdom of the Algarve, the Count of Pontével.
The parish of Luz was formally constituted in 1673. The origins of the settlement date to the construction of a fortress in the area of Luz, and the presence of fishermen along the coast, especially after the establishment of an industry in the 15th and 16th centuries, when sardine fishing employed around 90 men.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the parish of Luz was de-annexed from the main parish of Santa Maria.
The use of the name Praia da Luz is actually a recent trend in the vernacular. Introduced by sunbathers, it was first recorded in 1928, and its use increased rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, with the tourist influx. Yet there still remains a distinction between the modern civil parish of Luz, and the medieval centre, which latter includes the historical village.
Praia da Luz became more familiar to the international public in 2007, when on 3 May Madeleine McCann
Disappearance of Madeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann disappeared on the evening of Thursday, 3 May 2007. She was on holiday with her parents and twin siblings in the Algarve region of Portugal. The British girl went missing from an apartment, in the central area of the resort of Praia da Luz, a few days before her fourth...
disappeared from a holiday flat, as her parents ate at a nearby tapas
Tapas
Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. They may be cold or warm ....
restaurant.
Geography
Luz is located in the southwest corner of the municipality of LagosLagos, Portugal
Lagos is a municipality at the mouth of Bensafrim River and along the Atlantic Ocean, in the Barlavento region of the Algarve, in southern Portugal....
, and covers an area of 21.78 km². It is bordered to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, to the north by the civil parish of Barão de São João, to the east by Santa Maria and São Sebastião, and it is adjacent to the civil parish of Budens, in the municipality of Vila do Bispo. The parish includes three settlements (Luz, Espiche and Almadena).
The relief of the parish is marked by two mountainous areas, Montinhos da Luz (99 metres) and Montinhos do Burgau (68 metres), while four ravines flow from north to south: Ribeira do Vale de Barão, Ribeira de Almadena, Ribeira de Espiche and Ribeira da Luz. The beach in Praia da Luz is an intermediate-size Blue Flag beach
Blue Flag beach
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards.The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe,...
with two distinct zones: the white sand beach and rocky cliff zone, characteristic of the Algarve. While the waters are typically clean and transparent, its temperatures are variable, owing to the influence of the Atlantic currents.
Demographically, the older parish of Luz was a small centre. By the 18th century, following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake
1755 Lisbon earthquake
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, was a megathrust earthquake that took place on Saturday 1 November 1755, at around 9:40 in the morning. The earthquake was followed by fires and a tsunami, which almost totally destroyed Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, and...
, the region was decimated, and many of its residents abandoned the region. The development of the region only began in the second half of the 19th century. The census of 1893 indicated a population of less than 1712 inhabitants.
Economy
Luz is dominated by its beach, and extends as far as the cliffs of the southern coast, and part of the Algarvian Gold Coast . During the Age of Discovery, fishing was the spur that developed the settlements of Luz during the 13th and 14th centuries, progressing to whaling by the 16th century: it constitutes one of the more important economic poles of socio-economic development with the municipality of Lagos. Fishing, including octopusOctopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
potting, was the predominant occupation in Praia da Luz until it was surpassed by tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
in the 1980s; the resort industry developed around the old fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
village.
Luz's beach and setting have attracted many visitors to the region, resulting in a shift from an economy based on fishing to one providing services for local tourists. Along the beach, many of the canning plants were closed and replaced by windsurfing and diving schools, as well as discos, restaurants and shops tailoring to the seasonal visitor. The once prominent casino closed, and was replaced by a local primary school, before becoming the seat of the parish government and health centre.
Similarly, many of the agricultural fields were purchased by developers, resulting in the building of many holiday villages, apartments, hotels and resorts.
Many of the fishermen became employees of the hotel industry, while the cannery employees, welders and farmers began working in civil construction.
The settlements of Luz have become holiday destinations for citizens primarily from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, as well as local vacationers from within Portugal. In some cases, foreign tourists have chosen to make it their permanent home.
Architecture
The visitor to Luz encounters many façades with ManuelineManueline
The Manueline, or Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation of the first decades of the 16th century, incorporating maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral...
-era architectural motifs. There are many habitational structures that correspond to the estilo chão ("ground style") typical of the rural buildings that date back to the end of the 18th century. In the first half of the 19th century, many of the more official homes and buildings began to appear in the Algarvian Neo-baroque style. Meanwhile, the period was also marked by simple single-storey homes, covered in tiled roofs, typical of Luz.
Civic
- Mr. Biller's Garden
- Roman Archaeological Site of Praia da Luz: located on a promontory overlooking the village, there are few visible signs of this archaeological discovery, which consists of a small Roman bath complex located alongside the main parochial church
Military
- Atalaia Tower
- Castle of Nossa Senhora da Luz
Religious
- Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz . Dedicated to Our Lady of the Light, this medieval church was built around 1521, and was routinely sacked in the 15th and 16th centuries, resulting in the construction of protective walls and defences. During the 1755 Lisbon earthquake1755 Lisbon earthquakeThe 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, was a megathrust earthquake that took place on Saturday 1 November 1755, at around 9:40 in the morning. The earthquake was followed by fires and a tsunami, which almost totally destroyed Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, and...
it was badly damaged, and its restoration (1874) was funded by local contributions. In the 20th century, two events (a violent storm and the 1969 earthquake) caused similar damage to the church body.