Silves

April 16, 2022

Silves is a bit inland and known for its castle whose origins date back to the Romans. The budget committee noted that Silves seemed not to be a popular spot for Easter as the hotels there were going for half the rack rate, so we stayed two nights.

The castle was indeed impressive, although most of what we saw was the restoration done in the early 1900s. And, as we have seen at so many monuments in Portugal, the site was dotted with plaques in 4 languages describing various aspects of the archeological history. In short, there was evidence of Neolithic tribes, Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Christians; quite a history!

We had planned to briefly pop into the cathedral (home of the Bishop until 1577) but we arrived during a Saturday mass and were mesmerized into staying by the God-like voice of the priest reverberating around the vaulted ceilings as he recited and sang in Portuguese (which was almost as other-worldly as Latin to us). Having found nothing about Easter Sunday services on our web searches and inquiries with hotel staff, we were pleased to catch this service and experience the cathedral as it was meant be used.

Mostly we enjoyed walking the winding alleys of Silves and treating ourselves to delicious meals on picture-perfect restaurant patios. Now we are rested and ready to push on to Faro and Spain!

Some of the archeological excavations as well as a charming garden and cafe inside the castle walls

Evening view of the cathedral and castle with the hotel pools in foreground.

City hall fronted by a park full of flowering trees

Fish catalplana for lunch at the Marisqueira Rui in the old town

The street level part of the Cafe des Ingles, we ate supper on the cathedral side, upper patio

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Suzanne GibsonQuite an experience to hear mass in Portuguese! I love the sound of Portuguese, probably my favorite language.

I am well into "Lands of Lost Borders", by the way. Fascinating. Thanks again for recommending it.
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2 years ago

ann and steve maher-wearySuzanne,
I am so glad to hear you are enjoying the book!

We are stymied with the Portuguese language. Written we see so many similar words with Spanish and French but it sounds so much harsher than Spanish and we can't make out anything people are saying. We loved the mass, the sounds of the call and response singing was so evocative. Does speaking German give you more affinity to Portuguese? When we first arrived in a small village in northern Portugal in the fall, there were a group of men having coffees at the next table. We first thought that they had to be Russian until later on during the trip we realized they had been speaking Portuguese !
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2 years ago

Suzanne GibsonNo, German doesn't really help at all, but having a Brazilian daughter-in-law does. And it's the Brazilian Portuguese that I like so much. I don't understand it, either, though. Just like the sound.
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2 years ago

Kathleen WearyWhat a cool experience to have happened on the church in use!
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2 years ago

ann and steve maher-wearyQuite lovely
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2 years ago