MUSEU DA CORTICA
- Rua Gregório Mascarenhas.
- Tel: 282 440 480.
-
Tue–Sat.
-
SILVES
-
10,000.
-
-
-
Rua 25 de Abril
26–28 (Tel: 282 442 255 ). -
3rd Mon of
month.
Silves’s commanding position made it the ideal fortified settlement. The Romans
built a castle here, but it was under the Arabs that the city flourished,
becoming the Moorish capital, Xelb. In the mid-12th century the Arab geographer
Idrisi praised its beauty and its “delicious, magnificent” figs. Silves was
renowned as a centre of culture in Moorish Al-Gharb until the Knights of
Santiago took the city in 1242.
Today, the red walls of the castle stand out against the skyline. Next to the
castle, the Fábrica di Inglés houses a cork museum. the Museu da Cortica , which tells the story of cork production in
Portugal.
The castle and town of Silves
CASTLE
- Castelo de Silves.
- Tel: 282 445 624.
-
daily.
-
-
(garden
only).
The red sandstone castle dates back mainly to Moorish times, though it has
done duty as a Christian fortress and, more recently, a jail. It was the
site of the Palace of the Verandahs, abode of Al-Mu’tamid from 1053 when he
was ruler of Seville and Wali of Al-Gharb.
There are superb views of the town and countryside from the massive,
polygonal ramparts. Inside, there are gardens and the impressive vaulted
Moorish Cisterna da Moura Encantada (Cistern of the
Enchanted Moorish Girl).
SÉ
- Largo da Sé.
-
daily.
-
public hols.
Built on the site of a mosque, the cathedral dates from the 13th century, but
has been much altered over the years. In the chancel, light falls from
lovely double windows with stained-glass borders, on a jasper statue of
Nossa Senhora da Conceição, believed to date from the 14th century.
Opposite the Sé, the 16th-century Misericórdia church has a
Manueline side door and a Renaissance altarpiece.
Sé Cathedral
MUSEU ARQUEOLÓGICO
- Rua das Portas de Loulé 14.
- Tel: 282 444 832.
-
Mon–Sat.
-
Situated down the hill from the cathedral, the Municipal Museum was opened in
1990. Its exhibits include Stone and Iron Age tools, sculpted Roman
capitals, surgical instruments from the 5th–7th centuries, a 13th-century
anchor and items of 18th-century ceramics. The museum is built around its
star exhibit, a large Arab well-cistern of about the 12th century that was
uncovered here in 1980. The staircase built into the structure descends 15 m
(49 ft) to the bottom of the well.
ENVIRONS
One kilometre (half a mile) east of Silves is the Cruz de
Portugal , an ornate 16th-century granite cross. This may have
been given to the city by Manuel I, when João II’s body was transferred
from Silves Cathedral to Batalha. The faces are intricately carved with the
Crucifixion and the Descent from the Cross.
