Access this tour for free

Experience this tour for free. Available through our app.

Download or access the app

iOS Android Web

STQRY Guide Map

STQRY Directory / STQRY Guide / Olhão - Architecture

Olhão - Architecture

Walking
71 Stops
Cover for Olhão - Architecture
Preview Tour

Tour Overview

Discover the Architecture Walking Tour of Olhão in 71 projects - Starting Market Halls

Olhão is unlike any other town in Portugal. Its architecture tells the story of fishermen, merchants, returning emigrants and visionary builders who together created one of the country's most distinctive urban landscapes.

This self-guided Architecture Walking Tour takes you through the historic centre and beyond, revealing the buildings, streets and hidden details that make Olhão so unique. Along the way, you'll discover historic monuments, remarkable houses and fascinating stories that bring the town's architectural heritage to life.

The Modernism of Olhão

Between 1925 and 1965, Olhão developed its own remarkable interpretation of modern architecture. Unlike anywhere else in the Algarve, modernism here grew from the town's famous cubist building tradition, inspired by North African architecture with its white façades, flat roofs and rooftop terraces. Together, these elements created the unique character of the "Cubist City" that still defines Olhão today.

The tour leads you through the historic neighbourhoods of Barreta, Levante, Mundo Novo and more, where you'll discover how the prosperity of the fishing and canning industries, together with the influence of emigrants returning from the Americas, shaped a surprisingly modern town.

Although Olhão had few celebrated architects of its own, local engineers and builders embraced modernist ideas, creating elegant apartment buildings, affordable housing estates and distinctive homes along Avenida da República and many other streets.

The Pioneers of Algarve Modernism

The tour also introduces you to the architects who transformed architecture throughout the Algarve. Foremost among them is Manuel Gomes da Costa, whose innovative work helped define modern architecture in southern Portugal. His designs in Olhão, together with the work of Manuel Laginha and António Vicente de Castro elsewhere in the Algarve, reveal how international modernism was adapted to the local climate, culture and way of life.

Whether you are interested in architecture, history or simply exploring one of Portugal's most authentic towns, this walking tour offers a fresh perspective on Olhão—one building, one street and one story at a time.

Stops

  1. Stop 1: The Municipal Markets of Olhão

  2. Stop 2: The Customs Building - 1842

  3. Stop 3: Instituto de Investigação das Pescas e do Mar

  4. Stop 4: Building of the Port of Olhão - architect Paulo Cunha

  5. Stop 5: Building on Rua Dr. Francisco Fernandes Lopes no. 20

  6. Stop 6: Double house at Rua de São José 27/29

  7. Stop 7: Building at Largo Sebastiãu Martins Mestre no. 6

  8. Stop 8: Olhão Municipal Slaughterhouse

  9. Stop 9: O Casarão : 'Bolo de Noiva' or the 'Wedding Cake'

  10. Stop 10: Building block Chaminé - Rua do Comercio no. 87

  11. Stop 11: Chapel of Senhora da Soledade - 17th century

  12. Stop 12: Building at Rua do Comércio no. 120

  13. Stop 13: House/Shop at Rua do Comércio no. 113 - architect Manuel Gomes da Costa 1957

  14. Stop 14: Municipal Museum of Olhão

  15. Stop 15: Building at Praça de Restauraçao no.12 - 1960/70

  16. Stop 16: Church Matriz de Nossa Senhora do Rosário e Chapel de Nosso Senhor dos Aflitos - 1715

  17. Stop 17: Residential Building Avenida da República, nº. 4-8 - 1960/70

  18. Stop 18: Building no.14 of Av. da República

  19. Stop 19: Former cafe Mourão

  20. Stop 20: Building on corner Rua Almirante Reis / Rua da Cerca

  21. Stop 21: Building at the corner of the Almirante Reis / Tv. do Júdice

  22. Stop 22: Residential Building Topa 1. - Rua 18e Junho - architect J. Belchior - 1957/58

  23. Stop 23: Building Topa 2.

  24. Stop 24: Post, Telegraph and Telephone Building CTT

  25. Stop 25: Caixa Geral de Depósitos Building: CGD Olhão - architect Arq. Jorge Olive

  26. Stop 26: Apartment block Avenida da Republica 62 - 1950/60

  27. Stop 27: Olhão Auditorium - architect António Meireles - 2009

  28. Stop 28: Former Fish Auction

  29. Stop 29: Vila Majuca

  30. Stop 30: Apartment block - Avenida da Republica 116

  31. Stop 31: Estalagem Caíque – 1960s–1970s

  32. Stop 32: Casa Correia – A House Full of Surprises

  33. Stop 33: Former Grémio of the Fish Canning Industry – 1945

  34. Stop 34: Building Avenida da República, n.º 154 - 1950/60

  35. Stop 35: Art Deco House - Casa de Poço

  36. Stop 36: Olhão Courthouse – Raul Rodrigues Lima, 1963

  37. Stop 37: Olhão Railway Station – 1904

  38. Stop 38: Neighbourhood 11 de Março – SAAL de Marim Architect: José Maria Lopes da Costa

  39. Stop 39: Municipal Library José Mariano Gago – Carlos Martins, 2008

  40. Stop 40: Buildng Avenida Bernardinho da Silva 20

  41. Stop 41: Municipal Fire Department of Olhão

  42. Stop 42: Modernist Apartment Block – In the Style of Manuel Gomes da Costa

  43. Stop 43: Apartment Building, Avenida Bernardino da Silva, 42 – Manuel Gomes da Costa, 1960s

  44. Stop 44: Vivenda Estelita / Gabrita House – João Matamouros

  45. Stop 45: Casa Matos - architect Manuel Gomes da Costa 1957 / 58

  46. Stop 46: Villas Gemelas – Armando Martins, 1959–1963

  47. Stop 47: Modernist apartment block

  48. Stop 48: Edificio de Viviendas, Rua de Olivença, 1/1A – Arquitecto Desconocido

  49. Stop 49: Chico Arcanjo House – 1909

  50. Stop 50: Chalé Baete – Jorge Colaço’s Azulejos and Olhão’s Industrial Heritage, 1928

  51. Stop 51: House Av. Dr. Bernardino da Silva no. 90

  52. Stop 52: Horta da Cavalinho Neighborhood of economic houses - architect Eugénio Correia - 1945/50

  53. Stop 53: Vivenda/ Chalé Vitoria

  54. Stop 54: Bairro de Casas Economicas para Pescadores 1945/49 - architect Inácio Peres Fernandes

  55. Stop 55: Former "Siroco" Hotel -1965/76

  56. Stop 56: Primary School in the Neighborhood of Casas para Pescadores

  57. Stop 57: Chalé João Lúcio - 1916

  58. Stop 58: Centro de Interpretaçao do Parque Natural da Ria Formosa. 1991 - architect Sérgio Infante (SIGERP)

  59. Stop 59: Tidal Mill Moinho do Maré / Quinta de Marim

  60. Stop 60: Garagem EVA – Bus Workshop and Offices 

  61. Stop 61: Modernist and Portuguese Suave Architecture (1949)  Architect: H. Carapato

  62. Stop 62: Bairro 18 de Maio – Urbanización SAAL Arquitecto: Manuel Dias

  63. Stop 63: Modernist Apartment Building on the N125 - architect Manuel Gomes da Costa

  64. Stop 64: Food Square – Ria Shopping Centre: Tent-Roof Structure

  65. Stop 65: Jardim dos Pequeninos – Nursery School

  66. Stop 66: Chalé Saias – A Classical Villa in Olhão

  67. Stop 67: Home for the Elderly – Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Olhão

  68. Stop 68: Multipurpose Welfare Centre / Maria Helena Rufino Nursery

  69. Stop 69: Casas Gemelas: Un conjunto de viviendas modernistas

  70. Stop 70: Barrio 28 de Septiembre – Arquitectos: António Gomez Egea y Luís Guedes

  71. Stop 71: Bairro de Casas Económicas – Nossa Senhora da Assunção - Architect: Eugénio Correia

Map