Olhão, the town that rose in 1808

1 brewery · 1 venue

Olhão takes its name from a plentiful spring, an "olho de água", that once watered the beach where fishermen began to gather at the start of the 17th century, although the oldest written record of a place called Olham dates from 1378. The spring and an open bar to the ocean drew them here, and the settlement grew until, in 1695, it became a parish of its own, separate from Quelfes. In 1765 King José I granted the fishermen their own maritime brotherhood, the Compromisso Marítimo de Olhão. The town's defining moment came on 16 June 1808, when its people rose against the French occupiers and drove them out, and the rest of the Algarve followed. About a month later, a group of 17 men sailed to Brazil, where the royal court was living, in a small caique called Bom Sucesso to bring the news. In reward, the Prince Regent, the future King João VI, issued a royal charter written in Brazil that made Olhão a town under the name Vila de Olhão da Restauração, although the town council was only established for good in 1826. Olhão became a city in 1985, and the whole coastline of the municipality lies within the Ria Formosa Natural Park.

Craft beer in Olhão is a rare find among the fishing quarters and the lagoon. Keep an eye out for something local after a day exploring the Ria Formosa.