The enchanted Moors

The legends of the Algarve on the enchanted Moors tell stories of damsels of great beauty or princesses with formidable powers of seduction, who promised treasures to whoever came to deliver them from their fate.

Enchanted Moors

Enchanted Moors

For several centuries, tales and oral tradition have given rise to innumerable legends which depict Moors as guardians of treasures hidden in bewitched places: springs, fountains, waterways, caves or castles.

The legend de Mareares, which takes place in the castle of Aljezur or that of the Moor of the castle of Salir describe the conquest and reconquest of these castles.

In opposite roles, the legend of the Moor of Nora, which takes place in Rio Seco de Faro, tells the story of a handsome Lusitanian knight who lost his love for a Moor, without however managing to break the spell of his beloved, imposed by his father after the capture of the city by the Christians.

The lands of fishermen and sailors are the land of myths like that of the beautiful Floripes, which arises in the moonlight, between the waves, to demand from the sailors of Olhão acts of bravery that will free her.

The legend of Praia da Rocha relates the story of a mermaid who fell in love with a fisherman, son of the land and a farmer, son of the land. After many adventures, the Terra burst its ire, rolling huge rocks to the Sea, also angry, which drew itself, night and day, against the cliffs. The mermaid, unable to choose, turned into fine golden sand, conforming to the characteristics of the two eternal giants who awakened her passion.

The announcement of spring is made by the flowers of the almond trees which each year resonate the story of the princess Nordic who longed to see no snow and for whom her husband had hundreds of almond trees planted, the flowers of which would cover the fields with a white mantle.