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Tavira or Tabira is another name for Durango, Spain. Tavira (pron. ), along with Lagos is sometimes considered one of the most architecturally attractive towns in the Algarve. Its known origin dates back to the late Bronze Age (1.000-800 BC). In the 8th century BC it became one of the first Phoenician settlements in the Iberian West. The Phoenicians created a colonial urban center here with massive walls, at least two temples, two harbours and a regular urban structure. Phoenician Tavira existed until the end of 6th Century BC, when it was destroyed by conflict. It is thought its original name was Baal Saphon, named after the Phoenician Thunder and Sea god. This name later became Balsa. After a century of being abandoned, the settlement recovered, during the urban bloom that characterised the so called Tartessian Period, and became bigger than ever. This second urban center, Tartessian Tavira, was also abandoned by the end of the 4th Century BC. The main centre then moved to nearby Cerro do Cavaco, a fortified hill occupied until the time of Emperor Augustus. In the time of Caesar, the Romans created a new port, some 7 km from Tavira, named Balsa. Balsa became a big town, in fact much bigger than Tavira, that grew, prospered and decayed in parallel with the Roman Empire. When the Moors conquered Iberia, in the 8th Century, Balsa was already extinct as a town. During Roman rule, Tavira was a secondary passing place of the important road between Balsa and Baesuris (today Castro Marim). A recent archaeological survey showed that the so called "Roman bridge" is not Roman but a 12th Century Moorish bridge. The area stayed rural until the 11th Century when Moorish Tavira (from the Arabic Tabira, "the hidden") started to grow rapidly, becoming one of the important (and independent) towns of the Algarve, then the South-Western extreme of Gharb al-Andalus (the West of Islamic Iberian territories). (Extensive bibliography about these historical periods can be seen at www.arqueotavira.com) Dom Paio Peres Correia took it from the Moors in anger in 1242 after seven of his principal Knights were killed during a period of truce. In the 17th Century the port on its river was of considerable importance, shipping produce such as salt, dried fish and wine. Like most of the Algarve its buildings were virtually all destroyed by the earthquake of 1755. The town has since been rebuilt with many fine 18th Century buildings along with its 37 churches. A 'Roman' (actually Moorish) bridge links the two parts of the town across the River Gilão. The church of Santa Maria do Castelo is built on the site of a Moorish Mosque and in it are the tombs of Dom Paio Peres Correia and his seven Knights. Its original economic reliance on the fishing industry has now passed due to changed migration patterns of Tuna. The population is in the region of 20,000 inhabitants supporting a military base whilst the surrounding area is still very rural and undeveloped. This is now changing due to the demands of the tourist industry and opening of golf courses in the near vicinity. The beach for this town lies past the salt pans and is reached by a ferryboat that takes the visitor to the sand-bar island known as Ilha de Tavira.
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