Pêra () is a former
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in the municipality of
Silves, Portugal.
[Detail Regional Map, Algarve- Southern Portugal, ] In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish
Alcantarilha e Pêra. The village is south east of
Silves and is south south east of
Lisbon. The village used to be called Pêra de Cima or Upper Pêra to distinguish it from the present
Armação de Pêra, which was then named Pêra de Baixo (Lower Pêra).
[Silves, Tourist Guide to the town and Borough, By J.D. Garcia Domingues,: Empresa Litográfica Do Sul, S.A.]
Description
Pêra is located a little south of the N125 coast road and is linked to
Albufeira
Albufeira () is a city and seat of its own municipality in the district of Faro, in the southernmost Portuguese region of Algarve. The municipality population in 2021 was 44,158, in an area of . The city proper had a population of 28,645 in 2021 ...
by the old municipal road Estr EN526. Pêra has benefited from the road by-pass built several years back which diverted most of the traffic away from the village which often brought it to a standstill. The narrow streets of the village were only ever intended to accommodate pedestrians and horse-drawn vehicles.
The
International Sand Sculpture Festival (FIESA) is held annually in the parish.
The parish of Pêra has within its boundaries the villages of
*Arroteies
*Benagaia
*Fonte Negra
*Louriga
*Mesquita
*Monte Raposo
*Relvas
*Rogel
*São Lourenço
*Sentieiras
*Torrinha
*Vale de Margem
*Vales
Parish Church
The patron of the village is the Divine
Holy Ghost
For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is believed to be the third person of the Trinity, a Triune God manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each entity itself being God.Gru ...
. Pêra main parish church was built in the 18th century and has a single
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
and a simple
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
.
[Guide to the cultural heritage of the Algarve](_blank)
By Turismo of Portugal:Algarve, The highlight of the church is the altarpiece with a
pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
-shaped throne
in the
Baroque style which is located at the end of the chancel. Also from the Baroque period are the side altarpiece, as well as those in the Chapels of
Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Our lady of the Rosary) and
Sagrado Coracão de Jesus (Sacred Heart of Jesus).
Both these chapels have statues which date from the 18th century. The church also possesses interesting figurative tiles in the chancel which depict the four evangelists,
Matthew,
Mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* F ...
,
Luke and
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
.
Nature Reserve
from the village to southeast, close to the beach, there are some marshes by the name of the
Lagoa dos Salgados. The salt marshes are a refuge for many varieties of waterfowl and has a rich abundance of vegetation.
Observação de aves na lagoa dos Salgados (Pera)
/ref>
References
Villages in the Algarve
Former parishes of Silves, Portugal
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