Marquês de Pombal minister of king Dom José I , responsible for the design and construction of Vila Real de Santo.
António,
completed his task in record time (less than a year). He did have some
experience, because he had been in charge of rebuilding Lisbon after the
big earthquake in 1755. His design
for Vila Real de S.A. features a main square (Praça Marquês
de Pombal) in the middle of which stands a white obelisk. All the important buildings are located there, the church, the Town Hall, and the former customs building. From this square, roads go in all directions. They run at right angles to each other, much like a checkerboard. Everything in the town is rectangular, rigid and build with functionality in mind.
Vila Real de S.A. soon became a main fishing port with numerous fish canning factories. The harbour was also used by riverboats that went up the Guadiana River to get mineral ore from the mines in São Domingos.
In 1886, Vila Real de S.A. became the first Algarvian town with gas illumination. The area was already important before de founding of Vila Real de S.A.. Nearby Cacela was an Arab stronghold, its fortress being conquered in 1248 by Paio Peres Correia, master of the order of Santiago (a crusader order). Cacela became the starting point for campaigns against the Arabs, leading to the conquest of the rest of the Algarve.
