The Regional Directorate of Culture (DRCAlg) said close to an additional 18,000 people visited one of the Algarve’s officially monitored monuments, which are Sagres Fortress (Vila do Bispo), the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Raposeira, Vila do Bispo), the Megalithic Monuments of Alcalar (Mexilhoeira Grande, Portimão) and the Milreu Roman Ruins (Estoi, Faro).
The culture board said these 12 months maintained a “tendency of growth” also noted the year before.
Sagres Fortress was the most-visited monument, with 334,102 visits and “a positive variation of 4.39 percent in comparison to the year before”, while the Roman Ruins of Milreu registered the biggest growth in visitors, of around 21.9 percent.
“We are also pleased that the tourists who visited the region last year for its sun and sea also sought the cultural aspect of the region, leaving us the challenge of continuing to develop and promote greater dynamism and appreciation of these areas for this year, “said the Regional Directorate of Culture.
DRCAlg stressed that Sagres Fortress “has consistently increased the number of visitors” and recorded in 2016 “the third best of the last 20 years, since the monument opened to the public in 1997.”
In 2016, the fortress had 14,102 more visitors than in 2015, when the number of visitors was 320,000, according to the Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve.
“The Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve believes that the DiVaM - Diversification and Valorisation of Monuments of the Algarve programme, launched and implemented in 2014, has contributed in an important way to the renewal of interest of the various communities for our heritage, which has also translated into greater affluence in the number of residents of the region to these places”, said the statement.
DRCAlg praised and thanked “the dedication and commitment of all who have contributed to these results and to better welcome visitors to the monuments.”