Pêra () is a former civil parish in the municipality of

Silves Silves may refer to : Europe * Silves, Portugal, municipality and former bishopric in Algarve, southern Portugal ** Silves (parish), a civil parish in the municipality of Silves ** Castle of Silves, a medieval castle in civil parish of Silves ...

, Portugal.Detail Regional Map, Algarve- Southern Portugal, In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish

Alcantarilha e Pêra Alcantarilha e Pêra is a civil parish in the municipality of Silves, Portugal. It was formed in 2013 by the merger of the former parishes Alcantarilha Alcantarilha () is a former civil parish in the municipality of Silves, Portugal. In 2013, t ...

. The village is south east of

and is south south east of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. The village used to be called Pêra de Cima or Upper Pêra to distinguish it from the present

Armação de Pêra Armação de Pêra is a town (''vila'') and Portuguese parish (''freguesia'') in the municipality of Silves.Detail Regional Map, Algarve- Southern Portugal, The population in 2011 was 4,867, in an area of 7.99 km². The village used to be ca ...

, 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 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 Described as the largest sand sculpture event in the world, the International Sand Sculpture Festival or Festival Internacional de Escultura em Areia (FIESA) has been held in Pêra, Algarve, Portugal annually since 2003. The site at occupies . E ...

(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. Pêra main parish church was built in the 18th century and has a single nave and a simple apse.Guide to the cultural heritage of the Algarve
By Turismo of Portugal:Algarve, The highlight of the church is the altarpiece with a pyramid-shaped throne in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

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 Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

, Mark,

Luke People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

and John.

Nature Reserve

from the village to southeast, close to the beach, there are some marshes by the name of the

Lagoa dos Salgados The Espiche River () is a small river in the south central region of the Algarve, Portugal which rises a little south east of the village of Algoz. It runs south towards the south coast, and its mouth is at the Praia dos Salgados between Armação ...

. 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)
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References

Villages in the Algarve Former parishes of Silves, Portugal {{Faro-geo-stub