Qualla: Castle of Silves https://qualla.com/castle-of-silves en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:17 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/e/y/9/g/castle-of-silves-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Castle of Silves https://qualla.com/castle-of-silves Castle of Silves: Introduction https://qualla.com/castle-of-silves/ Photo credit Ricardo Liberato, CC BY-SA 2.0. The red sandstone walls of Silves Castle have seen more flags raised and lowered than almost any fortress in Portugal. Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians passed through. Romans conquered the hilltop around 201 B.C. and held it for five centuries. The Moors arrived and made it magnificent, building the Palace of Balconies where the poet-king Al-Mutamid composed verse under polychromatic stucco ceilings. Then came the Crusaders, the Almohads, and finally the Portuguese -- each wave reshaping the fortress but never quite erasing the layers beneath.

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Image: Ricardo Liberato | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/y/9/g/castle-of-silves-wp/ey9g-castle-of-silves-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Castle of Silves: The Siege That Didn't Hold https://qualla.com/castle-of-silves/ Photo credit Lídia Maria Faria, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 1189, King Sancho I of Portugal arrived at Silves with a powerful Crusader army and laid siege. The city fell after a prolonged assault, and the Christian forces celebrated their conquest. But the celebration was premature. Just two years later, in 1191, a grande army under th...

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Image: Lídia Maria Faria | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/y/9/g/castle-of-silves-wp/ey9g-castle-of-silves-the-siege-that-didnt-hold.mp3 0:06 2 full Castle of Silves: Water Beneath the Stones https://qualla.com/castle-of-silves/ Photo credit Marco Aldeia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The castle's most remarkable engineering lies underground. The Cistern of Moura, a subterranean reservoir ten meters high with a surface area of 820 square meters, is an architectural marvel of five naves marked by four rows of columns connected by semi-circular archways. This ra...

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Image: Marco Aldeia | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/y/9/g/castle-of-silves-wp/ey9g-castle-of-silves-water-beneath-the-stones.mp3 0:06 3 full Castle of Silves: A King's Unexpected Tomb https://qualla.com/castle-of-silves/ Photo credit IngimarE, CC BY-SA 4.0. When King John II of Portugal died unexpectedly in nearby Alvor in 1495, Silves Cathedral -- which sits just below the castle walls -- became his provisional burial place. His body rested in the main chapel until 1499, when King Manuel I oversaw the exhumation and transfer of the...

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Image: IngimarE | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/y/9/g/castle-of-silves-wp/ey9g-castle-of-silves-a-kings-unexpected-tomb.mp3 0:06 4 full Castle of Silves: Digging Through the Layers https://qualla.com/castle-of-silves/ Photo credit Marty B, CC BY-SA 2.0. Archaeological excavations beginning in 2005 brought new attention to what lies beneath the castle's surface. Archaeologists Rosa and Mario Varela Gomes uncovered vestiges of the 11th-century governor's palace, including fragments of polychromatic stucco decoration from Al-Mutami...

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Image: Marty B | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/y/9/g/castle-of-silves-wp/ey9g-castle-of-silves-digging-through-the-layers.mp3 0:06 5 full