Silves and Monchique | Portugal
Both Silves and Monchique can be done together in one day. The fort of Silves is beautiful to behold and the water in Monchique is not that special, but the view on Mount Foia is amazing.
Silves ~ 0.5-day trip
The most important things to see in Silves are the fortress and the cathedral. You also have a pillory and a cross from the 10th century.
The fortress had many occupants but when the Moorish occupied it, the fortress developed enormously. The moors extended the walls, introduced a new irrigation system: terrace. The cathedral was in that time no cathedral but a mosque of course.
When leaving Silves you also encounter a bridge that resembles the Pont d’Avignon of France.
Monchique ~ 0.5-day trip
Caldas de Monchique is an old spa town, built by the Romans. If you think you’ll find remains of the old spa, then you’re wrong. The spa has been renovated, so there is nothing left of the old spa building. Monchique water is known to cure skin deceases. The Romans swore by taking baths in this healing water.
Every research I did, told me that you could drink from the waterfall of Monchique, but when we arrived, the waterfall was more like a stream than a rush of water. Locals told us that every tourist came filling their bottles with this water and to protect the natural resource they decided to lessen the stream of water. If you do want to taste the ‘healing’ water, you can go to the Monchique spa and get a taste of it. When we arrived
After visiting the chapel op Monchique and visiting its town, we went to mount Foia. Make sure you take the local dust road, to encounter some orange trees, cork trees, and eucalyptus trees. Once we were on top of mount Foia, we enjoyed ourselves a magnificent view over the whole coastline of the Algarve. You could see Faro, Albufeira, Sagres Point, and Bordeira.
TIP: do bring your sweater with you. I forgot mine and I froze my but off!
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