Built in Gothic style after the reconquest of the city of Faro from the Moors, in 1249, the Cathedral is located in the same place where the Roman temple and the Muslim mosque were previously built.
From the original works campaign, some important traces survived, such as the front tower and the large ogival portal that enters the body of the church. Also in the Gothic style, but dating from the 15th century, are the two side chapels of the transept covered with vaults of crossed arches.
In 1577, due to the move of the bishop of the Algarve from Silves to Faro, this church became Sé Catedral. But in 1596 it was sacked and burned by the Count of Essex’s privateers, having suffered considerable damage that led to a new campaign of works aimed at its recovery. The main vestige of this intervention is the Doric columns on which the round arches that separate the three naves of the church rest.
In the years following the Restoration, a new chancel was built, covered by a barrel vault with coffered panels and ornamented with a mannerist altarpiece, considered the best example of the 17th century carving in the Algarve.
In the eighteenth century, some of the side chapels were lined with altars in gilded baroque style, with emphasis on the Chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres and the Chapel of Santo Lenho.
Finally, the tiles of the late 17th century that decorate the Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Rosário (by Gabriel del Barco), the set of cult images of the altars (mostly from the 17th and 18th centuries), the medieval tomb, deserve mention. by the knight Rui Valente and also the baroque organ placed next to the high choir and decorated with oriental motifs, also known as chinoiseries.
The Sé Catedral de Faro also provides a visit to the Catedralicio Museum, where you can appreciate a significant set of vestments and Eucharistic implements belonging to the bishops of the Algarve.