Worth a visit
A TRIP TO SALIR We take a look around the charming little Village of Salir. A short distance away from Loule, it has some of the most amazing hillside views and incredible History that makes it well worth a visit.
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et in the breathtaking central Algarvean hills is the enchanting Village of Salir, filled with character and surrounded by nature it is a wonderful place to spend the day and has many trails to enjoy that take you through the Barrocal and gives you the opportunity to appreciate nature and all its beauty. Reaching as far back as the 12th century, Castelar (now, Salir) was occupied by the Moors who built the Castle of Salir to protect the region against the Christian re-conquest. The legend behind the name is said to have come from the cries of the Saracens as they fled from D. Paio Peres Correia, “Salir, Salir!” meaning “Escape, escape!”. The Castle of Salir Now left to ruins, the castle sits on the hill with a great viewpoint over the green hills of Serra do Caldeirão. The
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Castle was part of a regional defense system conquered from the Moors between 1248 and 1249. In an Archaeological study of the site between 1987 and 1998, Prof. Helena Catarino and her team revealed a dense urban area consisting of six houses and two streets, with each house containing various rooms, each with different functions. These rooms are identified as being bedrooms, kitchens, livingrooms, courtyards, etc... The kitchens being identified by the recovered ceramic kitchen utensils and the courtyards by their paved stone slabs. These houses were used during the 12th century and were abandoned after the Christian conquest. The Archaeological record shows that the conquest of the castle was very hard on the population of Salir and caused a lot of destruction to the people and structures of the village.
March 2020
