Silves (& Happy Birthday to Trevor & George)

Saturday 26^th March.

After a couple of days of very hot weather, (>25C, during which we decided it was better to chill out on site), today was cooler so we decided to venture out...

But firstly, Happy Birthday Trevor!!

(Trevor & Pauline are currently in Australia, so probably won't read this!)

George is also four today & when we visited Silves this afternoon four Portuguese girls who where fussing him sang Happy Birthday when we told them that it was his birthday!

Just before this we said goodbye to our Dutch neighbours in their £100k plus motorhome (with matching trailer). They had a dog called Didea who George played with.

Now off to Silves which is an old town littered with orange and lemon trees, sitting on the banks of the Arade River ("Rio Arade"). There is history everywhere you look in Silves, to remind you of it’s affluent and bold past as a Moorish capital (“Xelb”).The importance of Silves lay in the fact that it was the main access to the inland areas of the Algarve because of its river location, although the river is now too silted up for large vessels to use.

The most prominent monument is Castelo de Silves, which is now said to be the best preserved castle in the Algarve. The castle and the Cathedral beside it are the first buildings you see as you approach Silves, as they sit on the hilltop above the town.
The castle has eleven towers, two of which are barbicans, and thick walls that enclose an area of 12,000m². Four of the towers, modified at the time of reconstruction work in 14/15th centuries have gothic doorways.

The castle once sheltered the old Moorish 'alcáçova' which was the residence of the lord of the city. Not much remains of the defensive walls and towers which protected Silves, but one of the four gates remains and is the 'Torreão da Porta da Cidade' (The turret of the City Gate). Inside the tower are two rooms and annexes which now house the Municipal Library.

Sé de Silves (Cathedral of Silves) one of the Algarve’s few remaining gothic monuments with ancient tombs, sits alongside the castle and a network of narrow, cobbled streets take you down into the town.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to photograph any of the castle area.