Faro, Diocese of

FARO, Diocese of. - City and diocese of southern Portugal, capital of the province of Algarve. It has an area of about 5,072 km², with 317,628 inhabitants, of whom 503,747 are Catholics. It has 67 parishes, with 66 diocesan priests and some regulars (1948).

Occupied by the Moors, it was, in 1860, reconquered by Don Alfonso III. Near the city are the ruins of the ancient center of Orobona, the original episcopal see, transferred around 1189 to Silves and Algarve, whence it passed to F. on 30 March 1577. Among its principal monuments are remembered the Cathedral, in the Gothic construction of the 13th century, largely rebuilt by the Italian architect Francesco Saverio Fabbri, on the commission of Bishop Avelar; notable in it are the interior, covered with "azulejos," and the chapel of relics, built by Bishop Pereira de Silva, who also has his burial there. Near the Cathedral are the ruins of the ancient convent of the Capuchins, of the 14th century, in Romanesque style. Also to be noted is the church attached to the convent of S. Francesco, built in the 16th century, and the "Arco de Vila," the monumental entrance of the city, an andrassa work of the architect Fabbri.

Mariano Baffi