Archaeological findings in the area demonstrate that Lagos is inhabited since prehistoric times. The old name of the city - Lacohriga - points to a Celtic origin, about 2.000 years B.C. Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians frequently used its port.
The city grows and prospers during the Roman occupation, making it necessary to construct a dam for water and a bridge over the river close to Bensafrim.
The Arabs raised City walls in the 10 th century. The Portuguese under Paio Peres Correia conquered Lagos in the year 1249.
Under the reign of Dom Afonso IV , Lagos started to get greater fame, because he ordered the reconstruction of the walls of the square and put the military headquarters of the Algarve there.
On the 5 th of January 1361 during the reign of Dom Pedro I , Lagos was elevated to the status of small town with its own jurisdiction. At that time the city was under the command of the Bishop of Silves to whom it had been donated by the king of Castela.
In 1415, under Dom João I , began the age of the Portuguese Discoveries. The importance of Lagos was at its peak, because it constituted the geographical platform in the conquest of Ceuta and it was the point of departure for the dream of an Algarve beyond the sea. From Lagos came the orders from the Infante Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator), who later becomes the owner of the town, it being given to him by his nephew Dom Afonso V.
The golden age for Lagos was the 15 th century. For about forty years, the city, due to its location opposite Africa, was the port of departure and arrival for the ships that, year after year, were busy discovering the coast of that continent. It was a centre for the trade in exotic products like ivory, gold and silver, brought from Africa. Lagos sees new churches being built, an increase in the number of houses, and a growing number of merchants and national and foreign bankers.
João Gonçalves Zarco und Tristão Vaz Teixeira, two native sons of Lagos discovered the Island of Madeira (1419).
From Lagos sailed, in 1434, the navigator Gil Eanes, rounded Cape Good Hope and did not stop there ..
Lagos became an obligatory stopover for almost all ships.
On the 27 th of January 1573, King Dom Sebastião elevated Lagos to the statute of city, in the sequence of a royal journey to the Alentejo and the Algarve, impressed with the reception he got from the people of Lagos.
In 1573 the Bishops seat is transferred from Silves to Lagos, which becomes the capital of the whole Algarve, being the residence of Generals, Captains and Governors from the Kingdom.
However, the history of Lagos was always tied up with the sea and marine activities. It was a meeting point on the international routes. It was Lagos where Infante Dom Henrique equipped the caravels that opened the way to the era of the Discoveries. Lagos was the capital of the kingdom of the Algarve from 1578 until 1755.
New walls, built in the 16 th century, accompany the urban expansion of the city; those defences are reinforced, in the 17 th century, with forts in strategic points.
The earthquake in 1755 and the seaquake that followed it destroy a great part of the city. Only in the middle of the 19 th century, with the industry of fish preserves and the trade therein, begins the recovery of its prosperity.
Today, Lagos is a dynamic and active city, proud of its past.