History

Once again, St Vincent’s Day (January 22) will inevitably, and sadly, pass us by almost unnoticed and, except in the Vila do Bispo municipality and the Sé in Lisbon, uncelebrated. There is, [...]

Part one of The Pope’s Elephant showed that immediately after his election in 1513, Pope Leo X determined to make Rome the centre of European culture. Amongst the first to seek an audience with [...]

Last month I went to a concert in the Teatro Mascarenhas Gregório in Silves and I felt compelled to find out more about this beautifully restored little theatre. The theatre was a gift to the [...]

This story is about the Indian elephant which was sent as a gift by the king of Portugal to the Pope in Rome. Hanno was one of four elephants sent by the Governor of Portuguese India between 1510 [...]

Charles Ralph Boxer led two lives, each in its own way quite remarkable. First, before WW2 in Hong Kong, he was an intelligence officer who was fluent in Japanese; second, without any academic [...]

Considered to be Portugal’s greatest 19th century author, Eça de Queiros spent 15 years in England where he created some of his greatest works. The London Observer newspaper ranked his realist [...]

Considered to be Portugal’s greatest 19th century novelist, Eça de Queirós spent 15 years in England where he created some of his greatest works whilst living as Portuguese Consul in [...]

“Thank you, Peter, for changing my mind about Fado. The only Fado I had heard before was of the dirge kind and, like you, I was frustrated because I couldn’t make out a word.” This was one [...]

SS Roumania, a British steam ship that sank near Foz de Arelho (Caldas da Rainha) after hitting a sandbank over 126 years ago, reappeared from its sandy grave in January. The discovery was made [...]

I recently went on the first heritage walk, one of five organised by Lagoa council. During the walk around the town of Estombar, we were treated to a re-enactment by Faro’s Te-Atrito Theatre [...]