Silves
Encyclopedia
Silves (ˈsiɫvɨʃ) is a town and a municipality
in the Algarve, southern Portugal
. The city has a population of 10,800 inhabitants and the municipality reaches 33,830 (2001). The municipality of Silves is part of the district of Faro
. Silves is the former capital of the Algarve and is of great historical importance.
s of Arade and Funcho. The landscape of the municipality is generally hilly. To the south the municipality borders the Atlantic Ocean
.
s. The river Arade, which was navigable in historical times, linked the hinterland to the open ocean and allowed for the transport of produce and commerce. The town of Silves was possibly founded during the times of Roman domination
, when the region was part of the Lusitania
province.
After 713, when the Moors invaded Iberia
, Silves 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 with the aid of Northern European crusaders, but lost it again to the Almohads. Periodic raiding expeditions were sent from Al-Andalus
to ravage the Iberian Christian kingdoms, bringing back booty and slaves. The governor of Córdoba
attacked Silves in 1191, and took 3,000 Christian slaves. Again under Muslim rule, the city was then prosper to the point of being called the Baghdad
of the West.
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 Silves Cathedral
(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. Silves Castle
(Castelo dos Mouros, Moorish Castle) is located on the top of the hill. It occupies ca. 12,000m². Archaeological excavations have shown that the oldest buildings date back to the 8th century, the stratigraphy
is almost 6m 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 aquifer
s in the south of Portugal, The Querença-Silves Aquifer http://environ.chemeng.ntua.gr/wsm/Uploads/Deliverables/ThirdYear/Deliverable_21.6.pdf, and has many orange groves, a fruit introduced by the Moors.
s or civil parishes as follows:
Municipalities of Portugal
In Portugal, municipality or concelho is the most stable subdivision of Portugal since the foundation of the country.Portugal has an entirely separate system of cities and towns. Cities and towns are located in municipalities, but often do not have the same boundaries, even if built-up is continuous...
in the Algarve, southern Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. The city has a population of 10,800 inhabitants and the municipality reaches 33,830 (2001). The municipality of Silves is part of the district of Faro
Faro (district)
Faro District is the southernmost district of Portugal, coincident with the Algarve. The administrative centre, or capital, is the city of Faro.-Municipalities:The district is composed of 16 municipalities:* Albufeira* Alcoutim* Aljezur* Castro Marim...
. Silves is the former capital of the Algarve and is of great historical importance.
Geography
The municipality is crossed by the Arade River, which was navigable in historical times and was key to the prosperity of the city of Silves. The waters of the river form the damDam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
s of Arade and Funcho. The landscape of the municipality is generally hilly. To the south the municipality borders the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
.
History
The region of Silves has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic, as attested by archaeological vestiges, including several menhirMenhir
A menhir is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Their size can vary considerably; but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top...
s. The river Arade, which was navigable in historical times, linked the hinterland to the open ocean and allowed for the transport of produce and commerce. The town of Silves was possibly founded during the times of Roman domination
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
, when the region was part of the Lusitania
Lusitania
Lusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...
province.
After 713, when the Moors invaded Iberia
Umayyad conquest of Hispania
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania is the initial Islamic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, centered in the Iberian Peninsula, which was known to them under the Arabic name al-Andalus....
, Silves became part of the Ummayad kingdom of Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
under the Arabic name of Shilb (شلب). In the 10th century it was one of the most important towns of western Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
. Silves became an independent taifa
Taifa of Silves
The Taifa of Silves was a Muslim taifa kingdom that existed in what is now southern Portugal for two distinct periods: from 1040 to 1063, and again from 1144 to 1151 when it was finally conquered by the Almohads....
in 1027 under the rule of Ibn Mozaine and his son, who was dethroned in 1051 by al-Mu'tadid, the governor of Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
. al-Mu'tamid
Al-Mu'tamid
This article is about the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tamid of Baghdad. For the Andalusi Arabic poet who was also the Abbadid king of Seville, see Muhammad Ibn Abbad Al Mutamid...
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
Almohad
The Almohad Dynasty , was a Moroccan Berber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his...
in 1156. In 1189 King Sancho I of Portugal
Sancho I of Portugal
Sancho I , nicknamed the Populator , second monarch of Portugal, was born on 11 November 1154 in Coimbra and died on 26 March 1212 in the same city. He was the second but only surviving legitimate son and fourth child of Afonso I of Portugal by his wife, Maud of Savoy. Sancho succeeded his father...
conquered the town with the aid of Northern European crusaders, but lost it again to the Almohads. Periodic raiding expeditions were sent from Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
to ravage the Iberian Christian kingdoms, bringing back booty and slaves. The governor of Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
attacked Silves in 1191, and took 3,000 Christian slaves. Again under Muslim rule, the city was then prosper to the point of being called the Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
of the West.
The town was finally taken from the last Muslim king Ibn Afan by Paio Peres Correia
Paio Peres Correia
D. Paio Peres Correia, a notable medieval Christian conqueror, who was born c. 1205, in Monte de Fralães, in the district of Barcelos in Portugal....
, 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
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
was changed into Silves Cathedral
Silves Cathedral
Silves Cathedral in the city of Silves, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal, was mostly built in the 15th century and is considered the main Gothic monument in the Algarve.-History:...
(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
Loulé
Loulé is a city and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 764.2 km² and a total population of 62,295 inhabitants. The city proper has a population of 12,103.The municipality is composed of 11 parishes, and is located in the District of Faro....
). Other sights include the Santa Misericórdia Church with a fine door in Manueline
Manueline
The Manueline, or Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation of the first decades of the 16th century, incorporating maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral...
style, the main body of the church was built in 1727-28, a museum for cork
Cork (material)
Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...
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. Silves Castle
Silves Castle
Silves Castle is located in the city of Silves, in the region of Algarve, in Southern Portugal. Silves Castle was built between the 8th and the 13th century AD and is considered to be the best preserved of the Moorish castles of the country....
(Castelo dos Mouros, Moorish Castle) is located on the top of the hill. It occupies ca. 12,000m². Archaeological excavations have shown that the oldest buildings date back to the 8th century, the stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
is almost 6m deep and contains Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
remains as well. The walls are made of red sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
(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 aquifer
Aquifer
An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
s in the south of Portugal, The Querença-Silves Aquifer http://environ.chemeng.ntua.gr/wsm/Uploads/Deliverables/ThirdYear/Deliverable_21.6.pdf, and has many orange groves, a fruit introduced by the Moors.
Demographics
| Population of Silves municipality (1801–2004) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 1849 | 1900 | 1930 | 1960 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2004 |
| 10509 | 15509 | 29598 | 34461 | 33368 | 31389 | 32924 | 33830 | 34909 |
Parishes
The Municipality of Silves is split into 8 freguesiaFreguesia
Freguesia is the Portuguese term for a secondary local administrative unit in Portugal and some of its former colonies, and a former secondary local administrative unit in Macau, roughly equivalent to an administrative parish. A freguesia is a subdivision of a concelho, the Portuguese synonym term...
s or civil parishes as follows:
- AlcantarilhaAlcantarilhaAlcantarilha is a Portuguese Parish in Silves Municipality. It has an area of 19.54 km² and a population of 2,347 with a population density of 120.1 hab/km²....
- AlgozAlgozAlgoz is a freguesia in the municipality of Silves .The name of the village has its origins in the Arabic word “Al-Gûzz” which derives from the name of a war-like Asian tribe from the Middle East, some of whom settled in the area in the 12th century. The patron saint of the village is Our Lady of...
- Armação de PêraArmação de PêraArmação de Pêra is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Silves. The village used to be called Pêra de Baixo or Lower Pêra to distinguish it from the present Pêra, which was then named Pêra de Cima or Upper Pêra ....
- Pêra
- São Bartolomeu de MessinesSão Bartolomeu de MessinesSão Bartolomeu de Messines is a Portuguese Parish in the Municipality of Silves. It has an area of 246.41 km² and a population of 8,491 with a population density of 34.5 hab/km²....
- São Marcos da SerraSão Marcos da SerraSão Marcos da Serra is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Silves. The village is north north east of the town of Silves and is south south east of Lisbon . The village is in an area were the two mountain ridges of Caldeirão and the Monchique meet. The Odelouca Stream skirts around the...
- Silves
- TunesTunes (Silves)Tunes is a Portuguese Parish in the Municipality of Silves. The village is east of Silves and is south south east of Lisbon. It has an area of 12.13 km², has a population of ca...