Recommended places in Algarve

Silves is a city and municipality in the Algarve region of southern Portugal.

Its history dates back to very ancient times, and it may have originally been inhabited by the Lusitanian people, who had a fort on the hill where the castle stands. The village was later taken over by Roman troops. Silves achieved great political, cultural and economic importance during the Muslim period, between the VIII and XIII centuries.

The second half of this century brought the cork industry to this inland city in the Algarve, as well as all the commerce and small manufacturing units dependent on that manufacturing.

The Estado Novo puts an end to the cork industrial cycle. The decline of agriculture based on the production of dried fruits is replaced by an agricultural practice supported by irrigation and the production of citrus fruits. The latter was allowed with the construction of the Arade Dam and important irrigation infrastructures that elevated this municipality to the most important national orange production center.

The tourism industry and the potential that the Arade River basin provides, together with the rich historical heritage that the municipality of Silves preserves, will certainly be another economic aspect to be developed and explored.