Browse / Portugal / Faro / Luz
Luz
Farotown
Luz
Total population
1,342
Demographic figures from INE Portugal. Overview below cites Wikipedia and may reference a different year.
City facts
Facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Overview
Praia da Luz, officially Luz, is a civil parish of the municipality of Lagos, in Algarve region, Portugal. The population of the civil parish in 2011 was 3,545, in an area of 21.78 km2. Also known as Santorini de Portugal, Luz de Lagos or Vila da Luz, "Praia da Luz" is used to refer to both the urbanized village and the beach. The parish had its origins in a small fishing village, but was transformed by several holiday-villa complexes into a tourist area.
Read more on WikipediaHistory & geography
History
Historians Estácio da Veiga and José da Encarnação have proved that settlements of Luz have existed for millennia, and that many cultures have crossed the territory. At the end of the 19th century, various castros were discovered in the area of Serro Grande, that included various funerary tombs with galleries, dating to the Neolithic period.
Geography
Luz is located in the southwest corner of the municipality of Lagos, and covers an area of 21.78 km2 (8½ sq. mi.). It is about from the city of Lagos proper. It is bordered to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, to the north by the civil parish of Barão de São João, to the east by Santa Maria and São Sebastião, and it is adjacent to the civil parish of Budens, in the municipality of Vila do Bispo. The parish includes three settlements (Luz, Espiche and Almádena). The relief of the parish is marked by two mountainous areas, Montinhos da Luz (99 metres; 325 feet) and Montinhos do Burgau (68 metres; 223 feet), while four ravines flow from north to south: Ribeira do Vale de Barão, Ribeira de Almadena, Ribeira de Espiche and Ribeira da Luz. The beach in Praia da Luz is an intermediate-size Blue Flag beach with two distinct zones: the white sand beach and rocky cliff zone, characteristic of the Algarve. While the waters are typically clean and transparent, its temperatures are variable, owing to the influence of the Atlantic currents. Demographically, the older parish of Luz was a small centre. By the 18th century, following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the region was decimated, and many of its residents abandoned the region. The development of the region only began in the second half of the 19th century. The census of 1893 indicated a population of fewer than 1,712 inhabitants.
Excerpted from the corresponding Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Geography
Coordinates & boundaries from the US Census TIGER/Line shapefiles.
Climate
Air quality
Walkability
Amenities nearby
Wildlife & biodiversity
Earthquake history
Photos
Sights & places nearby
Notable people from here
People born within ~10 km, from Wikidata (CC0). Click any name for their Wikipedia article.
Nearby places in Faro
- Espiche1.1 mi away · pop. 939
- Barão de São João4.5 mi away · pop. 370
- Bensafrim4.7 mi away · pop. 952
- Vale de Boi4.7 mi away · pop. 83
- Figueira6.4 mi away · pop. 196
- Raposeira8.9 mi away · pop. 293
- Vila do Bispo10 mi away · pop. 742
- Bordeira10.5 mi away · pop. 34
- Carrapateira11.4 mi away · pop. 144
- Parchal12.1 mi away · pop. 1,523
- Sagres13 mi away · pop. 1,845
- Lagoa15.5 mi away · pop. 6,010
Geography & sun
Elevation, sunrise/sunset and daylight from Open-Meteo. Solar climatology from NASA POWER.
Nearby airports
Public attention
Pageview totals from the Wikimedia Pageviews API.
Books about Luz
Search results from Open Library.
Recent natural events nearby
Ground air-quality sensors
Recently spotted species
Research-grade observations from iNaturalist (within ~15 mi).
Events
Gallery
Sources
- • Wikipedia
- • Wikidata
- • iNaturalist
- • Open-Meteo / sunrise-sunset.org
- • Wikipedia Pageviews API
- • Open Library
- • Wikidata SPARQL (CC0) — population, area, elevation, inception, head of government, Commons image