Cacela Velha is a village located in the civil parish of Vila Nova de Cacela

Vila Nova de Cacela

Vila Nova de Cacela, or simply Cacela, is a town and civil parish in the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, the southeasternmost of the Algarve, Portugal. Cacela is an exclave of the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, one of only three in Portugal to have exclaves. A lagoon and...

, municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. Cacela Velha is situated on top of a hill with a view to the easternmost lagoon of the Ria Formosa

Ria Formosa

The Ria Formosa lagoon, located in Algarve, in southern Portugal, is a system of barrier islands that communicates with the sea through 6 inlets. Five of these inlets are natural and have mobility characteristics...

.

History

Cacela Velha and the surrounding towns were a stopover for Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 and Phoenicia

Phoenicia

Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...

n navigators, and according to some authors it may have once been near the location of Conistorgis

Conistorgis

Conistorgis was the main city of the Conii or Cynetes. It was located somewhere in the interior of the Algarve, in southernmost Portugal, although the exact location is unknown. In the Conii language it probably meant "city of the Conii". The Celtici seem to have been present there.The Conii had...

, the still-unrecovered capital of the Conii. Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 and Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 occupiers also played a significant role in the expansion of the region.

Archeological excavations conducted from May 7 to July 4, 2007, determined the village was the Medina of Qast’alla Daraj, an Islamic town dating back to the 10th century, when much of the Iberian peninsula was controlled by the Moors

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 and Berbers

Berber people

Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...

 who arrived from North Africa. Archeologists determined the area was an agricultural center, and part of the excavation recovered seven corn pits that were used for storing cereals and grain.

Tourism and development

For many years, commercial fishing has been the main source of commerce for Cacela Velha. In recent years, the village has seen additional revenue from being a tourist destination. Cacela Velha’s beachfront location and lack of modern overdevelopment has been attractive to many visitors, while the village's fishing fleets have supplied the local seafood restaurants with oysters, clams, prawns and baby squid.

Cacela Velha’s major cultural event is the annual Noites da Moura Encantada (in English: Nights of the Enchanted Moor

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 Woman), which provides evenings of music, street fairs and artisan exhibitions that pay tribute to the region’s Arab and Berber heritage. Other cultural events include concerts at the Church of Cacela Velha,which have featured presentations of medieval music and contemporary classic music. In 2008, the village saw the opening of its first five-star hotel, the Quinta da Ria.

Cacela Velha beach, in the middle of a small peninsula, is popular among gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

 and lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

travellers.

Cacela Velha is one of ten Portuguese villages that the regional development commission (CCDR) has chosen to renovate in an attempt to encourage more Portuguese residents to relocate to the region.