With about 60% of its area included in the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina in the municipality of Vila do Bispo is one of the few municipalities in the Algarve where the wilderness remains intact, even if combined with a rich cultural heritage. Located in the extreme westernmost region, and with unique and rare conditions that invite an extended visit, presents two distinct realities: the west coast – just cut, and where small streams flow into fresh water – and the southern coast, more jagged as a result of erosion, offering a magnificent view of coves and bays.
From its people, to its very varied cuisine or the heavenly beaches, Vila do Bispo provides the practice of several types of tourism and sports, providing a healthy and harmonious contact with nature, in the true sense of the word.
Sagres is a small village of Vila do Bispo County, famous by the nautical school that Prince Henry settled there in the fifteenth century.
The small village of Sagres is surrounded by beautiful beaches, often deserted, while the sea is cold and dangerous than in the east. Examples of these beaches are Telheiro, Ponta Ruiva, Beliche, Tonel (great for surfers) and Martinhal, which has a school for water sports like skiing, surfing and windsurfing. The beaches in the area, such as Castelejo, Barriga and Cordama, are of fine sand and rocks at the bottom of steep cliffs.
Despite its awesome name, Vila do Bispo is a peaceful town away from the crowds of central Algarve. Has a rural atmosphere, since the region is rich in cereals, and there are some windmills still operating. The church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição is known for the purity of its lines, an interior decorated with beautiful tiles of the eighteenth century and a Baroque altarpiece dating from 1715. Cabo de Sao Vicente, windswept, lies in the extreme southwest of Europe. The Romans called it the Sacred Promontory and in the Middle Ages it was believed that was the end of the world. Today, it still looks impressive, with high cliffs facing the Atlantic where the waves have carved deep caves. According to legend, the isolated peninsula of Ponta de Sagres is where Henry the Navigator built a fortress in the fifteenth century to send his sailors on the mission of exploring the unknown seas.
Sagres
