Description Loulé

Loulé is a Portuguese city in the district of Faro, region and sub-region of the Algarve, with about 20 000 inhabitants. [Note 1], seat of the most extensive and populous municipality in the Algarve, with an area of ??763.67 km² and 70 622 inhabitants (2011), subdivided into 9 parishes.

 The municipality is limited to the north by the municipality of Almodôvar, to the northeast by Alcoutim and Tavira, to the east by São Brás de Alportel, to the southeast by Faro, to the southwest by Albufeira, to the west by Silves and to the south by the Atlantic Ocean coast. The municipality of Loulé encompasses two cities, Loulé and Quarteira, where the Nossa Senhora da Piedade Sanctuary (Mãe Soberana) is located. In the municipality of Loulé are the tourist complexes of Vilamoura / Quarteira, Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo (the last two in the parish of Almancil).

The foundation of the city is uncertain and distant in time, but there are concrete vestiges of Roman occupation, of which the Cerro da Vila fishing and salting center in Vilamoura are the best example, and it is known that when the Moors arrived here , in 715, an important village already existed.

Very close to the city, nature lovers will be surprised by the Classified Sites of Benémola and Rocha da Pena, which keep a different Algarve, still with endemic vegetation and where you can make organized tours.

The Loulé Carnival celebrations are among the most famous in the country.