From the arcaded Praca da Republica, by the river, it is a short climb up into the old town following Rua da Galeria. Ahead of you stands the Igreja da Misericordia with its one fine [now badly worn] carved stone doorway from 1541 depicting, among other decorative twirls, a couple of flute-playing figures. Inside there is a fine filed interior and gilt altar, but unfortunatgely the church is almost always locked.
Turn left here and a its a short distance up a cobbled street to the ruins of the Castelo which is half hidden amid landscaped gardens on a low hill in the centre of town. From the walls you can look down over the peculiarly Oriental rooftops and the town's twenty other churches all of which are currently kept locked.
Adjacent to the castle, the whitewashed Santa Maria do Castelo contained the tomb of Dom Paio Peres Correia, who reconquered much of the Algarve, including Tavira in 1242, from the Moors. Fittingly, the church stands on the site of the former mosque.
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