Algarve Portugal Monuments Alvor Castle Portimão

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Algarve Travel Tour Guide Presents: Culture, National Monuments of Portugal and the Algarve History
Monuments to visit near Querença, Loulé

Photo of Castelo de Castelo de Alvor, Algarve, Portugal.

The Castelo de Alvor, also known as Castle or Fort Albur Alvor, located in the village and parish of Alvor, Portimão Municipality, Distrito de Faro, Portugal.

A dominant position on a hill, opposite the Atlantic Ocean, is considered a significant military monument in the Algarve, with its history linked to the nearby Castle of Silves.

Background
Archeological research showed that early human occupation of this site is very old, having been located here Ipses, an important trade center pre-Roman fortified, which maintained its activity during the Roman occupation and beyond. At the time of Muslim occupation, the defensive system of this village is thickened but not yet fully understood by scholars: the protection afforded by the Moorish castle was further strengthened by bastions, between this and the sea.

The medieval castle
In the context of the campaign of the conquest of Silves, Sancho I of Portugal (1185-1211), tried to take Alvor since 1187. Later, with the reinforcement of an army of crusaders from Denmark and Friesland, attacked and captured the Castle Beach (1189), anticipating the siege and storm the castle of Silves, depending on who enroll. The position of Silves was held by Christians until 1191.

Although it has remained as one of the biggest towns in the Algarve, because of its excellent harbor, and died here King John II (1481-1495), were not found information about the evolution of military architecture of the village and its castle.

At the time of the Iberian Union at the turn of the sixteenth century to the seventeenth century, in the context of conflict between Spain and the powers of the north, the Algarve's sea fortifications were modernized and strengthened. About Alvor, Alexandre Massai, Neapolitan military engineer in the service of Spain, said his defense fortezinho as a small, square (description of the Kingdom of the Algarve ..., 1621), ineffective on the ability of the artillery of the time. This reason contributed to the abandonment of the structure, in favor of new fortifications, the power concentrated at key points on the south coast of Portugal.

With the loss of its defensive function, the castle was gradually being enveloped by the growth in population over the centuries, had fallen into ruins.

Features
The castle has a quadrangular, with its walls, the Islamic fashion, with raised irregular stone blocks arranged horizontally, rising to more than five feet high in several passages. The existence of a walkway is raised by the existence of a staircase adjoining the southern sector of the wall, although the current state of the monument is not to suggest that the walls were battlements.

The main door of entry in the elbow, is the last remaining original element, believed to have been originally defended by a watchtower. To the east, there are the remains of a tower that, according to their height, would have allowed the observation of the movement in the bay.

It is believed that the current Castle Alvor corresponds only to the early Islamic fortress. The village also must have been originally surrounded by a ring of walls, which did not come until today.

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