Mercado de Loulé

Loulé's market opened in 1908 in a building that is the reason people photograph it: red-painted with four corner turrets under onion domes and horseshoe-arched windows, in a neo-Moorish revival style that was fashionable at the time and that the Algarve, with its actual Islamic history, took to. Inside are fish and meat counters, fruit and vegetables from the surrounding Barrocal, cheese, dried figs and carob products, almonds, honey, and stalls selling the sweets the Algarve makes from almond and fig paste, along with craft and basketry. On Saturdays the market spills into a much larger street market around the building selling produce, plants, clothing and household goods, which is when the town is busiest. Loulé is also the Algarve's craft centre, with a municipal workshop programme, and it holds one of the largest carnivals in Portugal in February.

What you actually see

• The building - a 1908 neo-Moorish hall with red onion-domed corner turrets.
• The Barrocal produce - fruit, figs, carob, almonds and honey from the inland hills.
• The almond sweets - fig and almond paste confections particular to the Algarve.
• The Saturday market - a much larger street market around the hall.

When to go

Year-round. One to two hours. Saturday morning is the main event; the hall closes early on other days and all day Sunday.

Honest expectations

Closes by early afternoon and on Sundays. Much of what is sold as craft is imported. The building's exterior is more striking than the interior. Loulé is inland and needs a car or bus from the coast.

Nearby

Almancil and the coast are south; Alte and the Barrocal villages are north-west.