Silves: the castle, the cathedral and the old bridge: a self-guided walk

By Alleytale

Silves on foot, from a carved stone cross to the old bridge over the Arade

Silves stayed in Moorish hands until the 13th century, and the castle, the cathedral and the well each show a layer of that story and of what the Christian conquerors built on top of it.

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The stops

1. 1Cruz de Portugal

   This limestone cross is about three metres tall today, with Christ crucified on one face and a pietà on the other. Little is known for certain about its origins, but one of the most likely explanations is that King Manuel I gave it to Silves during his visit in 1499. It has been a National Monument since 1910, and it stands on the road out of town toward São Bartolomeu de Messines.

   

2. 2Castle of Silves

   Most of the walls and towers you see date from the 12th and 13th centuries, built under the Almoravids and Almohads and faced in Silves sandstone. King Sancho I took the city in 1189 with a crusader army after a long siege, but the Moors retook it in 1191, and Christian forces only held it for good in the 13th century. Excavations in 2005 and 2006 uncovered the ruins of the 11th-century governor's palace where Al-Mutamid lived.

   

3. 3Silves Cathedral

   Sources say a mosque stood on this site, though no physical trace of it has been found yet; after the Christian reconquest it became a cathedral. The Gothic apse, transept and main portal date from the second half of the 15th century, and the whitewashed walls contrast with the red sandstone of the apse. King John II, who died in Alvor in 1495, was buried in the main chapel at first; his remains were moved to Batalha in 1499, and his tomb slab with a Gothic inscription remains there.

   

4. 4Silves Municipal Archaeology Museum

   The museum opened in 1990 and was built around a Muslim-era well-cistern that was found in 1979 during archaeological work. The well was installed in the 11th century, is about 18 metres deep and has a staircase that reaches almost to the bottom. A stretch of the city's Islamic walls is built into the museum too.

   

5. 5Old Bridge of Silves

   Many people call this the Roman Bridge, but the bridge as it stands was built in the 15th century: it is first mentioned in 1439 and was finished by 1473. Whether Silves had a bridge in Roman times is only a possibility. It is 76 metres long, with five round arches, and it has been for pedestrians since 1950, when a concrete bridge was built nearby.

   

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