Algarve Golden Rentals

Silves

We hope this page about Silves in Algarve Region is useful for our Holiday rentals seekers.

The first Christian conquest took place in 1189. The Portuguese troops ruled by D. Sancho I were assisted by a contingent of Crusaders in transit to the Holy Land, which they had accidentally landed in Lisbon. The ephemeral subjection lasted only two years, Al-Mansur endows the city with strong walls and water supply infrastructures.
The ultimate Christian achievement takes place in the middle of the century. XIII. D. Afonso III, hastens to appoint a bishop for this episcopal seat, and soon the city became the capital of the whole Algarve. In the century. XV the infant D. Henrique concentrates in this city,
and actively encourages the participation of its people in the maritime voyages of the Portuguese discoveries.

With the 16th century, the first signs of decline appear. The silting up of the river, the main route of communication with the outside, the formation of muddy areas had made the city unhealthy. The prelate moved to Faro in 1577,
under strong popular opposition, and this transfer was followed by the influential businessmen who animated the economic life of the city. The 1755 Earthquake was the crowning illness of the city, leaving just over a dozen habitable houses.

The next century was marked by the French invasions,
the flight of the Portuguese court to Brazil and the social upheavals that have raged all over the country. In Silves, the wars between liberals and absolutists, had in the region an important local figure, the absolutist guerrilla Remexido. The second half of this century imported the cork industry to this interior city of the Algarve, as well as,
all trade and small manufacturing units dependent on that manufacture. The region is also rewarded with state investment in the expansion of the railway, which reaches the outskirts of the city at the beginning of the 20th century.

Important industrial and worker center, thriving in population and new buildings, developed
if politically and culturally for republican and unionist causes that are still recognized today in the toponymy of its streets. The Estado Novo puts an end to the industrial cycle of cork. The decline of agriculture based on the production of dried fruits is replaced by an agricultural practice supported by irrigation and citrus production.
The latter allowed the construction of the Arade Dam and important irrigation infrastructures that elevate this municipality to the most important national production center in Orange.

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

Hotels in Silves

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