Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
The Rio Arade was long an important route into the interior for the Phoenicians, Greeks
and Carthaginians, who wanted the copper and iron action in the southwest of the country.
With the Moorish invasion from the 8th century, the town gained prominence due to its
strategic hilltop, riverside site. From the mid-11th to the mid-13th centuries, Shelb (or
Xelb), as it was then known, rivalled Lisbon in prosperity and influence: according to the
12th-century Arab geographer Idrisi, it had a population of 30,000, a port and shipyards,
and 'attractive buildings and well-furnished bazaars'.
The town's downfall began in June 1189, when Dom Sancho I laid siege to it, suppor-
ted by a horde of (mostly English) crusaders, who had been persuaded (with the promise
of loot) to pause in their journey to Jerusalem and give Sancho a hand. The Moors holed
up inside their impregnable castle with their huge cisterns, but after three hot months of
harassment they ran out of water and were forced to surrender. Sancho was all for mercy
and honour, but the crusaders wanted the plunder they were promised, and stripped the
Moors of their possessions (including the clothes on their backs) as they left, tortured
those remaining and wrecked the town.
Two years later the Moors recaptured the town. It wasn't until 1249 that Christians
gained control once and for all. But by then Silves was a shadow of its former self. The
silting up of the river - which caused disease and stymied maritime trade - coupled with
the growing importance of the Algarvian ports hastened the town's decline. Devastation in
the 1755 earthquake seemed to seal its fate. But in the 19th century, local cork and dried-
fruit industries revitalised Silves, hence the grand bourgeois architecture around town.
Today tourism and agriculture are the town's lifeblood.
Sights
Castelo
( 282 445 624; adult/concession/under 10yr €2.50/1.25/free, joint ticket with Museu Municipal de Arqueologia
€3.60; 9am-5pm Dec-Feb, to 6.30pm Jun-Aug)
The russet-coloured, Lego-like castle has great
views over the town and surrounding countryside. It was restored in the 1940s and you
can walk around its chunky sandstone walls. In the north wall you can see a treason gate,
an escape route through which turncoats would sometimes let the enemy in, typical of
castles at the time. The Moorish occupation is recalled by a deep well and a rosy-coloured
water cistern, 5m deep and constructed at the end of the 12th century. Inside, the cistern's
four vaults are supported by 10 columns. Most probably built in the 11th century, the
CASTLE
