2-371-024 - Samuel Magal/Sites & Photos/Heritage Images

Bridge over the River Arade, Silves, Portugal, 2009. Silves is a town on 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.