Monuments

Loulé Castle and Urban Enclosure (Castelo e Cerca Urbana de Loulé)

The town of Loulé - called al-Ûlvã (hilltop) by the Muslims - was, and still is, the largest urban agglomeration in the Algarve without direct contact with the sea.

The walls of the old medina, probably built on a Lusitanian settlement and transition from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic - with Phoenician and Carthaginian settlement - have several mud towers and walls concealed between houses, dating from the 12th-13th centuries.

Of what remains of the castle and the urban enclosure, classified as a national monument, the magnificent quadrangular tower stands out. It was originally the minaret of the largest mosque of al-Ulya - one of the few minarets still existing in Portugal, converted by the Christians after the conquest of the city into the bell tower of the Parish Church of Saint Clement (Igreja Paroquial de São Clemente).

Within the walled perimeter, we find the public baths from the Islamic Almohad era, probably built in the 12th century. The excellently preserved structures - the vestibule, hot room, tepid room and cold room, two tanks - give it a unique character nationally.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the old castle, with its Moorish towers, was adapted to serve as the governor's residence. Today, it houses several cultural spaces, namely the Municipal Museum.