Description Silves

Silves is a Portuguese city in the District of Faro, region and sub-region of the Algarve, with about 6 300 inhabitants.

It is the seat of a municipality with 680.06 km² in area and 37 126 inhabitants, subdivided into 6 parishes. The municipality is limited to the north by the municipality of Ourique, to the northeast by Almodôvar, to the east by Loulé, to the southeast by Albufeira, to the southwest by Lagoa, to the west by Portimão and Monchique and to the northwest by Odemira and to the south it has coastline on the Atlantic Ocean . Silves was, for several centuries, namely during the Muslim rule, capital of the present Algarve.

In the old Arab kingdom of the Algarve, Silves was the most important city, its capital. That era drew a manorial profile crowned by a red castle, which he feels like exploring.

Considered the most beautiful Islamic military monument in Portugal, this castle is also the largest in the Algarve. Its towers and walls built on a hill in the Serra de Monchique with the purpose of watching and defending the territory, today are excellent viewpoints over these fertile fields covered with orange trees around the River Arade. It was built by the Arabs, probably on an ancient Roman fortification from the 4th / 5th century. They still surrounded the settlement of two more wall fences, of which only a few sections remained. Inside, we can see the old Arab alcove and two cisterns, one of which, they say, communicates with the river.

Silves was conquered from the Moors in 1189 by D. Sancho I, but they were only definitively expelled in 1242 during the reign of D. Afonso III. It is believed that the former largest mosque dates back to that time, transformed into the Cathedral, one of the most important temples in the Algarve, started in the Gothic style and completed in the Baroque era. It is in front of the castle and like this one, it was built in red sandstone, the sandstone of Silves.