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Only the Castle on top of the hill, from which the oldest part of the town descends, and a few remnants of tower and battlement wall, in amongst the white-washed houses, indicate the former splendour and strategic importance of this some-time grand capital of the Islamic western Peninsula.
City of historians, orators, poets and philosophers, “Xelb”, Islamic Silves, was famed as far as Baghdad and beyond. In 1189, Flemish, German and English Crusaders, took temporary service with Portuguese King, D. Sancho I’s army, whilst on their way to join the forces of England’s Richard I in Palestine, during the Third Crusade. They succeeded in conquering the city only after a long and bloodthirsty siege.
In a major Moorish counter offensive launched from Morocco, Silves was re-captured for Islam 2 ½ years later and remained in Moorish hands until 1248 when it was conquered definitively for Christendom by the Knights of Santiago commanded by Paio Perres Correia and Afonso III of Portugal. Near the castle, the former grand mosque was converted into a cathedral, which was completed during the 13th century and, although it suffered damage during the 1755 earthquake, it still retains many of its gothic features.
Silves has a number of excellent restaurants and bars serving a range of excellent, mainly typically Portuguese, fare. For a more cosmopolitan menu, try Café Suzie close to the river’s edge or, at the top of the town, next to the castle, sample the roof terrace of Café Inglês, on a summer evening beneath the star lit sky and take in the wonderful view over the Arade valley as the occasional white owl swoops overhead. |