A walk with Brad, our Golden Retriever through Lagos

Friday, May 02, 2008

A walk with Brad, our Golden Retriever through Lagos

Brad, my Golden Retriever, in Lagos, Algarve

In a beautiful sunny day I decide to take a walk in one of our Portuguese historical towns with my Golden Retriever Brad.

Brad behaved perfectly and received a lot of complements of the British tourists that visit us at this time of year. I can say he is a very lovely and tender representative of his breed in Portuguese lands.

I hope you can enjoy the video and photos of this walk.

Now a little history about this town - Portugal, Algarve - Lagos:

The city of Lagos is an ancient maritime town with more than 2,000 years of history.

It is known by it’s important strategic point during the 15th century period of Portuguese exploration..

It was also through Lagos that the first African slaves entered post-mediaeval Europe. There is a 17th century building standing on the exact site where the first slave markets were held in the 15th century. As the major sponsor of these expeditions, Prince Henry received one fifth of the selling price of the slaves. After his death the town began to slumber as the Royal family lost interest in the Algarve. All major trading houses then took up residence in Lisbon.

The old Portuguese town was a very beautiful city with many monuments until it was destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami of 1755. But it still preserves some rebuilt walls from the 16th century, a governor's castle from the 17th, and the site of what is believed to have been the first black slave market in Europe (the Mercado de Escravos, opened in 1444).