Monte Gordo is a tourist destination that the Algarve started making famous in the 60's, when the hotels started being built. MonteGordo belongs to Vila Real de Santo Antonio, a small town in the portuguese Algarve, whose history had begun being written much earlier.

History in this area proves that there was human existence in this same area in prehistoric times. It is an area that has always been inhabited by a series of different civilations. As to what the origins of the city is concerned, those of Vila Real go back to the first fishermen that roamed these lands.

It was in the XVIII century when Vila Real de Santo Antonio was born into a small town, a project that Marques de Pombal planned to make a border with Spain. From then on, they started building small homes that were a destination for fishermen. Vila Real grew over an old fisherman town called Santo Antonio de Arenilha.

Vila Real de Santo Antonio's heritage is in actual times divided in three locations. We must not forget to mention the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Our Lady of Asunción) or the Cacela Fortress.