2-371-009 - Samuel Magal/Sites & Photos/Heritage Images

View of the castle and panorama over the surrounding landscape, Silves, Portugal, 2009. Silves is a town in the Portuguese Algarve, in the district of Faro. It is located near a Roman bridge over the Ribeira de Arade and thus controls the river valley down to the coast. The town was occupied by the Moors in 713 and became part of the Ummayad kingdom under the Arabic name of Shilb. In the 10th century, it was one of the most important towns of western Al-Andalus. Silves became an independent taifa in 1027. With its red sandstone and dried mud walls, the imposing castle stands proudly on top of the hill, ringed by its fortified curtain walls and eleven turrets. It was built between the 8th and the 13th century and is one of the best preserved Moorish castles in Portugal.