Lagoa, Algarve

Lagoa is a municipality in the former-district of Faro, in the Portuguese region of the Algarve. The population in 2011 was 22,975, in an area of 88.25 km². Its urban population is 6100 inhabitants.HistoryAccording to some historical sources, the earliest settlement in the area occurred along the edges of small lakes or marshes, which were drained in order to create a fertile land. There are many pre-historic vestiges of the early settlements, including menhirs , funerary necropoles and artifacts that date a human presence to remote history. The entire region of the Algarve was conquered by the Arabs when they moved into the Iberian peninsula in the 8th century.When the area was later reconquered in the mid-12th century by Christian forces from the north, it was integrated into the fledgling Kingdom of Portugal. Muslim influence in Lagoa was profound, from the rich patrimony left behind, not only in neighboring Silves, but also in Lagoa where commerce thrived.During the 14th century, a favorable confluence of conditions allowed Lagoa to develop rapidly. Yet, the events of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake left little marks from this period: the reconstruction wiped away many of its classic architecture