Title

Silves Castle, Silves, Portugal, 2009. Artist: Samuel Magal

Caption

Silves Castle, Silves, Portugal, 2009. With its red walls (since it was built out of red sandstone and dried mud) the imposing castle stands proudly on top of a hill, ringed by its fortified curtain walls and eleven turrets. 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.

Date

1977

Credit line

Photo12/Heritage Images/Samuel Magal

Reference

HRM19D76_424

Model release

No

License type

Rights managed

Available size

50,0Mb (2,8Mb) / 16,3in x 11,9in / 4880 x 3583 (300dpi)

Keywords

Europe building buildings architecture country tower Algarve Portugal Moorish continent European castle color colour defence medieval fortress fortification Faro location century turret photograph Portuguese 21st century silves mediaeval Middle Ages Mudejar Thirteenth Century 13th century 8th century TGN photograph Sites & Photos Samuel Magal Silves Castle Magal Samuel photograph