Tourist Offices

In what was once considered the most important city of the Garb Al Andaluz, there are countless testimonies of that era of splendour. In Silves, the Islamic legacy is present not only in the architectural remains that can be seen all over the city, but also in its intangible heritage.

To better understand the cultural impact of the Islamic past in the region, the Islamic Heritage Interpretation Centre was created, organised around three major landmarks of Islamic culture: Earth, as constructive material, Water, essential for life, and Poetry, indispensable nourishment for the spirit.

The first area refers to Architectural Heritage, with the valorisation of the earth through the inclusion of adobe structures and images of the raw earth construction activity. Next is the element of water, of great importance to the Muslim world, exploring its usefulness in various ways, such as in the irrigation of orchards and vegetable gardens, evident all over the county with water mills and cisterns built by ingenious systems for capturing and supplying water.

The last area is dedicated to Poetry, where we can appreciate some of the poems written by great figures of Arab literature, such as an excerpt from the famous poem "Evocation to Silves” (“Evocação a Silves”), written by the poet-king Al-Mutamid, who was born in Beja and became King of the Taifa of Seville.

The Islamic Heritage Interpretation Centre currently operates as the municipal tourist office, and is an excellent place to start your tour of the historic city centre.