The old water tower was built around 1931 and its main task, was to supply water to the whole city. Although it has not been used for a long time, it has always been a charismatic and extraordinary building.
Recently it was now renovated and converted into a point of cultural interest and a unique tourist attraction: the Tower of Tavira, with the installation of the first Camera Obscura in the Algarve.
The Camera Obscura in the Tower of Tavira (near the Castle) it’s composed by a rotating mirror and two magnifying glasses (lenses) fixed to the end of a tube which is attached to the apex of the roof of the water tower. It’s a kind of periscope, which catches the live images of the city and its surroundings and sends them to the inside of the tower onto a horizontal screen, which has a diameter of two meters. Through a window the light gets in, falls onto the mirror, passes the lenses and reflects the image onto the screen. In real time the Camera Obscura sends you on a 360 degree voyage, showing you everything that happens outside the water tower.
More info at the official website.