Silves

Silves

Coat of Arms	Flag
A view of Silves Castle
Location
Municipality	Silves
Area	678,75 km²
Population	33 830 hab. (2001)
Density	hab./km²
Number of freguesias	8
Foundation of municipality (or charter)	1266
Region	Algarve
Subregion	Algarve
District	Faro
Postal Code	8300 SILVES
Website	www.cm-silves.pt
Municipalities of Portugal

Moorish fortress, Silves, seen from the North

Silves (pron. IPA: ['siɫvɨʃ]) is a town and a municipality in the Algarve, southern Portugal. The municipality is part of the district of Faro. Silves is located near a Roman bridge over the Arade River and thus controls the river valley down to the coast.

The town was occupied by the Moors in 713 and became part of the Ummayad kingdom of Córdoba under the Arabic name of Shilb شلب. In the 10th century, it was one of the most important towns of western Al-Andalus. Silves became an independent taifa in 1027 under the rule of Ibn Mozaine and his son, who was dethroned in 1051 by al-Mu'tadid, the governor of Seville. al-Mu'tamid ibn 'Abbad, the son of al-Mu'tadid and a famous poet, ruled the taifa of Silves until 1091. After the Almoravid conquest the town became Almohad in 1156. In 1189 King Sancho I of Portugal conquered the town during the reconquista, but lost it again to the Almohads. The town was finally taken from the last Muslim king Ibn Afan by Paio Peres Correia, Grand-Master of the order of Santiago in 1242, after the Alentejo and most of the coast had already fallen in 1238. The great mosque was changed into a church (Sé Catedral). In 1491 the town was given to queen Leonora by King João.

Parts of the Almohad town wall, constructed from poured concrete, have been preserved, as well as the Almedina-gate (Porta de Loulé). Other sights include the Santa Misericórdia Church with a fine door in Manueline style, the main body of the church was built in 1727/28, a museum for cork and the production of bottle corks in a defunct factory which is now also a centre for cultural events called "Fábrica do Inglês (The Englishman's Factory) and the municipal museum (Museu Municipal de Arqueologia) with findings from the palaeolithic onwards.

The town is situated on a hill above the Arade River. The Moorish Castle (Castelo dos Mouros) is located on the top of the hill. It occupies ca. 12,000 m2. Archaeological excavations have shown that the oldest buildings date back to the 8th century, the stratigraphy is almost 6 m deep and contains Iron Age remains as well. The walls are made of red sandstone (grés de Silves) with a pisé-core and have been heavily restored in the 1940s. Protruding towers of albarra-type protect the Northern slope. After the Christian conquest, the castle served as the seat of the alcaide-mor (provincial governor) till the middle of the 16th century, afterwards the towers were used as a prison.

Silves is built on top of one of the largest underground aquifers in the south of Portugal, The Querença-Silves Aquifer [1], and has many orange groves, a fruit introduced by the Moors.

Parishes

The Municipality of Silves is split into 8 "freguesias" or civil parishes as follows:

• Alcantarilha
• Algoz
• Armação de Pêra
• Pêra
• São Bartolomeu de Messines
• São Marcos da Serra
• Silves
• Tunes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Silves

• 55 Photographs of Silves
• Algarve: Information about cities e regions
• City Hall
• Portimão - Algarve (near Silves)

Municipalities of the District of Faro
Albufeira · Alcoutim · Aljezur · Castro Marim · Faro · Lagoa · Lagos · Loulé · Monchique · Olhão Portimão · São Brás de Alportel · Silves · Tavira · Vila do Bispo · Vila Real de Santo António

Coordinates: 37°11′13″N, 8°26′20″W

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