Category: Military Architecture > Castle
District: Faro > Albufeira > Paderne
Standing at an altitude of about 100 m, Paderne Castle occupies a hilltop on a peninsula shaped by the Quarteira stream and several lateral valleys. The surroundings combine olive groves and cork oaks with the silhouette of the Algarve barrocal hills.
From the top of the walls, one can see the stream to the south and the agricultural horizon stretching to the north, creating a setting where urban noise gives way to birdsong and the Mediterranean breeze.
The castle stands upon the remnants of an ancient Lusitanian hillfort, reoccupied by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. The structure seen today dates from the late Muslim period (11th–12th centuries), being an Almohad hisn that integrated defensive and residential functions.
After the Christian conquest in 1248, under D. Paio Peres Correia, the military space gained a new organization but succumbed to abandonment from the 16th century onwards. The severe shaking of the 1755 earthquake worsened the damage, and it was classified as a Property of Public Interest in 1971.
The walls, built with rammed earth on a limestone foundation, form an irregular ten-sided perimeter. The sole tower, an exterior albarrana tower, connects to the main body by an arch restored in the 1980s.
Inside, notable features include the ruins of the hermitage dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, two cisterns excavated into the rock, and traces of narrow streets that reveal the orthogonal Islamic plan. The silence enveloping this space invites contemplation of the dialogue between stone, light, and landscape.
Sources: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castelo_de_Paderne
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt
Coordinates DD: 37.157086915827065, -8.20052469766881
Coordinates DMS: 37°09'25.5"N 08°12'1.9"W
On-duty Pharmacy Paderne
