Estoi (Estói) | |
Civil parish (Freguesia) | |
A view of the ruins of Milreu, with the landscape of the parish of Estoi
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Official name: Freguesia de Estoi | |
Country | Portugal |
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Region | Algarve |
Subregion | Algarve |
District | Faro |
Municipality | Faro |
Center | Estoi |
- coordinates | 37°06′N 7°54′W / 37.100°N 7.900°WCoordinates: 37°06′N 7°54′W / 37.100°N 7.900°W |
Highest point | |
- location | Estoi |
Lowest point | Sea level |
- location | Atlantic Ocean, Estoi |
- elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
LAU | Freguesia/Junta Freguesia |
- location | Largo Ossónoba |
Timezone | WET (UTC0) |
- summer (DST) | WEST (UTC+1) |
Postal zone | 8005-454 |
Area code & prefix | (+351) 289 XX XX XX |
Statistics: Instituto Nacional de Estatística | |
Geographic detail from CAOP (2010) produced by Instituto Geográfico Português (IGP) |
Estoi (Portuguese pronunciation: [(ɨ)ˈʃtoi]) is a former civil parish in the municipality of Faro, in the Algarve, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Conceição e Estoi. The parish, which includes an area of approximately 46.55 square kilometres (17.97 sq mi), had a population of 3,538 at the 2001 census. The name of the parish, which was formerly spelled "Estói", was changed in 2004.
Estoi is a village and parish in the municipality of Faro, a rural zone that extends from the fertile fields of Campina de Faro, until the peaks of Serra do Monte Figo (Cerros de São Miguel, Azinheiro, Malhão, Bemposta, Monteiro and Guelhim), that have been, since antiquity, beacons for navigation and natural outlooks along the coast of the Algarvian Riviera.
The Palace of Estoi is a rococo building renowned for its gardens and azulejos (blue and white tiled ceramic). The palace was built in the late 19th century and is the finest example of this kind of architecture in the district of Faro.
Just west of this small town, in the vicinity of Estoi, is a ruined Roman villa of Milreu which provides a rare opportunity to see how Romans lived in the 1st-century-AD. The ruins reveal the characteristic form of a peristyle villa, with a gallery of columns around a courtyard. The excavations brought to light an extensive Roman villa with adjacent buildings. The villa ruins of Milreu show that area was already populated in Roman times.