In the A22 curve between Albufeira and Loulé, there is a land color that seems forgotten. Many motorists who pass there believe it is Roman ruins. But what stands there, on the slope over Ribeira de Quarteira, is a Muslim Castle of Singular Architecture, built in a military mud in the twelfth century, in an advanced period of Islamic occupation in southern Portugal.
According to Visit Portugal, Paderne Castle is a rare and well -preserved example of mud fortification that characterized Almóada military architecture.
This constructive system, which uses compacted raw earth, explains the ocher tone of its walls and the contrast with the Mediterranean thicket that surrounds it.
Between Loulé and Silves, a forgotten fortress
The location of the castle, between two ancient Islamic, Silves and Loulé, is not random. According to the same source, Paderne Castle was built to reinforce a secondary line of defense, necessary in the face of the advance of the kingdom of Portugal. The fortress dominated a strategic way of connecting the coast and the interior Algarve.
The enclosure housed a small Alcaria, with narrow streets and a wastewater runoff system that showed urban concerns. The main door was defended by an Albarrã tower, a typical element of Islamic fortifications.
Christian conquest and reconfiguration of space
In 1248, D. Paio Peres Correia won the castle to the Order of Santiago. Writes Visit Portugal that, after the Christian taking, the structure was partially adapted. Cisterns and changes in housing blocks emerged, signaling the beginning of a new phase of occupation.
Gradual abandonment began after the definitive integration of the Algarve into the Portuguese Crown. Adds the publication that, in the sixteenth century, the village was transferred north, and the castle declined.
Wounded by the earthquake, erased by time
The 1755 earthquake accentuated the decay. It refers to the same source as the partial destruction of the walls and the Albarrã Tower left the castle in ruins. Despite subsequent interventions, the degradation remained visible.
Classified as a property of public interest since 1971, Castelo de Paderne has been the target of studies conducted by IPPAR, Portuguese Institute of Architectural and Archaeological Heritage, with the objective of valuing the natural and cultural surroundings.
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The valley and bridge that tell another story
Explains the Visit Algarve that the walk to the castle runs a narrow valley, where the stream of Quarteira Serpentiaia between dense vegetation and old hydraulic elements. The medieval bridge next to the castle of Roman origin has three arches and two prismatic mares.
Nearby is the Mill of the Alfarrobeira, with traces of the house and oven, elements that illustrate ancestral agricultural practices.
Between fauna, flora and genetic heritage
It refers to the same source as the vegetation of the Umbria aspects, such as the juniper, aroeira and the Anã Palmeira. On the banks of Ribeira grows Narcissus Willkommiia rare, endemic and exclusive species of this zone.
In the soleheira aspect dominates thymels and rosmaninhais, where the Centaurea settingsa unique thistle of the BaroCal Algarve.
Owners, herons and other invisible inhabitants
The local fauna is equally rich. A presence of otters, feds, hedgehogs, and various species of water poultry and passagers were recorded. Next to the dam, an ancient Azenha, legacy of the Islamic time, witnesses the old management of water resources.
Much more than a point on the flag
Paderne Castle is one of the seven represented on the national flag. According to, this symbol refers to the castles conquered during the reconquest, reinforcing the historical weight of this discreet place.
Today, those who pass in A22 see only fragments. But behind the ruin houses and faded mud, the memory of a multicultural, agricultural and defensive Algarve remains.
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