Silves - Portugal

Silves was one of the cities in the Algarve that I really wanted to visit! I finally made it there a 2 or 3 years ago and it was a nice visit despite of the rain and not so good accomodation experience. 

These cards have been sent by Ninocas, Inês, Susana and Rui.

 

Silves is an attractive town with a rich history built on the banks of the River Arade. The area has been inhabited since Paleolithic times but the town reached its peak after the Moorish invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 713. By the tenth century, Silves, then called Xelb, was the capital of Al-Gharb, the area now known as the Algarve. In 1189 King Sancho I recaptured the town for the Portuguese with the help of a hired army of Northern European crusaders. Silves was recaptured by the Moors two years later until finally falling to the Christians in 1249.

 Foto © Art & Concept: Gustav A. Wittich | © Edição Vistal

Today Silves is an attractive, crumbling place of outdoor cafes and scented orange groves dominated by one of the best-preserved castles in the Algarve.

 

 © Michael Howard Photography www.mikehowardphoto.com

The Moorish Fortaleza, which boasts a complete set of sandstone walls and detached towers, occupies twelve thousand square meters on top of the hill that overlooks the town.

 

 © Michael Howard Photography www.mikehowardphoto.com

 Iron Age remains have been found, along with a well, a governor's palace and the Cisterna Grande, a thirteenth century water cistern that once served the whole town. - in: https://www.travel-in-portugal.com/silves