Castle of Paderne

Parish of Paderne

Background

Paderne Castle is a hisn, a small rural Hispano-Muslim fortification from the Almighty period (second half of the 12th century and first decades of the 13th century), whose walls used a unique and now lost construction process: military rammed earth. During this period, the progress of the Christian reconquest led to the construction of a defensive line composed of medium-sized fortifications (such as Salir Castle) and of a rural nature in the region, of which this is one of the best examples.

It stands in a dominant position over the Quarteira River, about two kilometres south of the city. One of the seven castles represented on the Portuguese flag, its reddish ruins are one of the most significant examples of Muslim military architecture in the Iberian Peninsula, standing out in the landscape as a sign of arrival in the Algarve for those entering the Via do Infante, coming from the A2. The scenic effect is multiplied at night, thanks to the lighting installed by the Algarve Tourism Region.

The medieval castle

The oldest reference to the castle dates back to 1189, when it was conquered in a fierce night assault by the forces of Sancho I of Portugal (1185-1211), with the help of a squadron of English crusaders. This dominion, however, was short-lived, since in 1191 it was recovered by the Almohad forces under the command of the caliph Yakub Almanzor.

Its definitive possession by the Portuguese Crown would only come under the reign of Afonso III of Portugal (1248-1279) with the conquest by the Master of the Order of Santiago, D.Paio Peres Correia, in 1248, initiating the repopulation of the region.

Under the reign of Denis of Portugal (1279-1325), the domains of the town and its castle, as well as the patronage of its church, were donated by the sovereign to the Military Order of Aviz, in the person of its Master, D.Lourenço Anes. However, there are no records of restoration work on the castle during this period, similar to what happened with the Castle of Alvor (1300), the walls of Tavira (1303) or those of Castro Marim (1303), but only some constructions inside it, such as the construction of the primitive chapel.

From the 15th century to the present day

In the following century, with the beginning of the cycle of Portuguese discoveries, strategic and economic concerns were concentrated on the coasts of the kingdom, with Paderne losing its importance and defensive function. Abandoned from the 16th century onwards, when the population moved to its current site, it gradually fell into ruins in the following centuries. The process was aggravated by the damage caused by the 1755 earthquake to the structure, in particular to its keep, as recorded in the "Parish Memoirs of 1758".

The ruins of the castle, consisting of some sections of walls, the tower and the walls of the chapel inside, in which a cistern opened, filled with rubble, were classified as a Property of Public Interest by Decree No. 516/71 of 22-11. The property has a Special Protection Zone demarcated by Order No. 978/99, in the Official Gazette (2nd series)

The property was acquired by the Ministry of Culture, through IPPAR, in September 1997. From then on, this body (Faro Regional Directorate) began archaeological prospecting work (under the responsibility of Helena Maria Gomes Catarino, in co-direction with Isabel Inácio and in collaboration with Ricardo Teixeira), as part of a broader project of restoration and museum enhancement.

Architecture

The castle is small in size and has an irregular organic polygonal plan (adapted to the shape of the land). For its construction, earthworks were carried out to make access difficult.

The walls, made of granite stone, are crossed by a battlement and reinforced to the north by a solid cube. In the south, there is an entrance gate with a straight lintel, preceded by an access staircase and defended by the Keep, a quadrangular tower. The door to this tower, facing the Plaza de Armas, opens about three meters above the ground. It is accessed by an external staircase, built in the 1970s. The interior is divided into three floors (the lower floor as a basement and the two upper floors as rooms) and access to the hipped roof is, in turn, via an internal staircase. The top of the tower is topped by battlements.

In the center of the parade ground, delimited by the walls, lies the castle cistern. Outside, on the slope to the north, is the old gallows, set in a stretch of pine and oak forest. Both this and the Pillory were restored in the 1960s.