ENPI UMAYYAD TOURIST OFFICES Aeroporto Internacional de Faro 8001 – 701 Faro Largo S. Sebastião PROJECT Tel.: 289 818 582 8550 – 000 Monchique [email protected] Tel.: 282 911 189 [email protected] The Umayyad Route in the Algarve is part of the Rua 5 de Outubro Monte Gordo international “Umayyad” project. Umayyad is a project 8200 – 109 Albufeira Avenida Marginal Tel.: 289 585 279 8900 - 000 Monte Gordo co-funded by the European Neighbourhood and [email protected] Tel.: 281 544 495 [email protected] Partnership Instrument (ENPI) program in the area of Rua 1.º de Maio Olhão 8970 – 059 Alcoutim Largo Sebastião Martins Cross Border Cooperation in the Mediterranean (CBC Tel.: 281 546 179 Mestre, n.º 8 A [email protected] 8700 – 349 Olhão Med), aimed at encouraging multilateral cooperation Tel.: 289 713 936 [email protected] between Europe and other countries located along the Rua 25 de Abril, n.º 62 8670 – 054 Aljezur Ponte Internacional do Mediterranean coast. Tel.: 282 998 229 A22 – Monte Francisco [email protected] 8950 - 206 Tel.: 281 531 800 Led by the “El legado andalusí” public foundation Alvor [email protected] Rua Dr. Afonso Costa, n.º 51 (), its partners in include the Algarve 8500 – 016 Alvor Praia da Rocha Tel.: 282 457 540 Avenida Tomás Cabreira Regional Cultural Office and the Algarve Regional [email protected] 8500 – 802 Praia da Rocha Tel.: 282 419 132 Armação de Pêra [email protected] Tourism Entity, together with entities from five other Avenida Marginal 8365 - 101 Armação de Pêra Quarteira Mediterranean basin countries: Italy, Tunisia, Egypt, Tel.: 282 312 145 Praça do Mar [email protected] 8125 - 193 Quarteira Lebanon and Jordan. Tel.: 289 389 209 Carvoeiro [email protected] Praia do Carvoeiro The purpose of the project is to create a major cross- 8400 – 517 Lagoa Sagres Tel.: 282 357 728 Rua Comandante Matoso border tourist route – the Umayyad Route – subdivided [email protected] 8650 – 357 Sagres Tel.: 282 624 873 into national routes in each partner country. The Castro Marim [email protected] Rua José Alves Moreira n.º 2 – 4 collection of routes have the common denominator of the 8950 – 138 Castro Marim São Brás de Alportel Tel.: 281 531 232 Largo de São Sebastião, n.º 23 rich heritage handed down by the Umayyad dynasty [email protected] 8150 – 107 São Brás de Alportel Tel. 289 843 165 Faro [email protected] during its period of 8th-century Mediterranean Rua da Misericórdia, n.º 8 – 11 8000– 269 Faro Silves expansion. Tel.: 289 803 604 E. N. 124 (Parque das Merendas) [email protected] 8300 – 000 Silves Tel.: 282 098 927 The “Umayyad” project's plan includes coordinated Lagos [email protected] Praça Gil Eanes (Antigos Paços do Concelho) activities in each of the seven member countries, such as 8600 - 668 Lagos Tel.: 282 763 031 Praça da República, n.º 5 action plans to structure and enhance the route, [email protected] 8800 – 329 Tavira Tel.: 281 322 511 awareness and training initiatives targeting local tourism Loulé [email protected] Avenida 25 de Abril, n.º 9 and cultural agents, and actions to publicize and promote 8100 – 506 Loulé Tel.: 289 463 900 the route among local and international tourism [email protected] operators.

These project activities are aimed at creating greater territorial consistency through a sustainable and responsible tourism and cultural route which optimizes accessibility and relationships between Mediterranean basin countries.

THE UMAYYAD ROUTE IN THE ALGARVE

This cultural and tourist route seeks to impart the There are also a number of memorial locations which, Along this route, travellers will enjoy a wide diversity deep human, cultural, artistic and scientific lacking a physical record, clearly stand out as of landscapes in an area with three different relationship established between the East and West, intangible heritage. In addition, archaeological geomorphological zones: mountains, Algarve and the handover of the Greco-Roman legacy to remains are displayed in museums, or at museum barrocal and coastline, with areas of reserves, Europe through Al-Andalus. hubs, throughout the entire region. natural parks and protected landscapes, together with countless classified sites that will delight nature The Portuguese territory of the Algarve has the The Umayyad route in the Algarve is a trip along the lovers. The local cuisine and age-old traditions still longest-standing Muslim diachrony, with the name region's ancient pathways, with several of the found in today's Algarve help to round out an "Algarve" originating from the Arabic term al-Gharb Algarve's most authentic, archetypal locales in terms enriching – and certainly unforgettable – cultural (west), an example of etymology speaking directly to of landscape and culture. journey. us about a region's past.

The Algarve's geographic boundary corresponds to the area which once belonged to the Visigothic UMAYYAD ROUTE MAP IN THE ALGARVE provincial diocese in the 6th century, and later to the kūra, the Islamic province of Ossonoba, in the 8th to 13th centuries. Alcoutim

The Visigothic diocese of Ossonoba was conquered in Martinlongo the early 8th century (713) for the Umayyad caliphate of Damascus, by the troops of 'Abd al-'Azīz, son of Mūsa, governor of Ifrīqiya (modern-day Aljezur Monchique Tunisia).

The Umayyad realm in the Mediterranean and the de Algarve was an important time of economic and Silves Santo António Cacela Velha cultural prosperity that left an indelible trace on São Brás de Alportel Alvor Portuguese culture. Tavira The Algarve's Umayyad legacy highlights the Estói Vilamoura vestiges of urban walls and of husun, fortified palatine clusters owned by clan groups who Faro dominated a territory and its natural resources.

FINANCED BY: PROMOTED BY: ALCOUTIM CACELA-VELHA SÃO BRÁS DE ALPORTEL

Nestled in a small valley between two waterways, the Cadavais This village is located next to one of the This typical Algarve mountain town has streets of low Stream and the Guadiana River, Alcoutim stands out for the most important wetlands of whitewashed houses attached to buildings with façades adorned harmony of its whitewashed houses with the river and Europe, the . with tile, fine stonework and iron balconies. surrounding highlands. Cacela-Velha, the Islamic São Brás de Alportel is surrounded by hills abounding in rockroses, In this pleasant border town, there is a small Umayyad estate Qast'alla, is a settlement cork oaks and strawberry trees. In Islamic times, it was likely a built of schist and graywacke. Its overlooking the sea, and fortified settlement. archaeological evidence traces it w e l l - d e f e n d e d b y a back to the 9th century, fortress. SILVES although there are no During Umayyad times, The Islamic medina, much like the modern city, overlooked the k n o w n m e d i e v a l from the 10th to 11th right bank of the Arade River, protected by the surrounding d o c u m e n t s w i t h centuries, it would become an highlands. Silves, with its powerful defences, river port, rich r e f e r e n c e s t o t h i s urban hub of some importance, ruling bazaar, abundant woodlands and gardens, and a population magnificent structure. over a territory roughly the same as that of the ancient Roman originating from Yemen speaking the purest Arabic, began to The town's castle was city of . dominate the Algarve in the second half of the 10th century, erected during the 14th sometimes even with an autonomous kingdom, and always with a Cacela-Velha likely rose to the status of the main Eastern century for reasons of strategic consecrated intellectual centre. The court of governor and poet Al- Umayyad iqlim (administrative zone), with a territory defence and the integrity of the Mu'tamid, the future Abbadid king of , represents the city's extending from the coastal lands to the Guadiana River. national territory, and houses the world's largest known union of economic pomp and intellectual splendour at the time. collection of Umayyad-period board games. Also in the 10th century, the Mozarabic Bishop of Ossonoba, Julian, was entombed here, as attested by a tombstone, TAVIRA denoting the continuity of the Christian cult under Umayyad ALJEZUR Starting in the early 12th century, Muslim Tavira became an rule. Aljezur, a name of Arabic origin (al-Jazīra, the island), reveals important maritime trading post. the fact that the foundation area on the castle hill was once Two factors made its port one of the Algarve's most defensible: the surrounded by water. The castle may have started as a rustic ESTÓI bar at the time was located near the fortress settlement of Cacela, home with a defensive tower, or just a rural fence at the highest Estói is located on a hillside in the transition zone between the at the end of a long stretch of water part of the hilltop, built during Umayyad times. The castle coast and the Algarve barrocal. The scale of human occupation which ships had to traverse overlooks the wetlands irrigated by the Aljezur Stream, the has remained controlled and contained. Its buildings have before firing weapons near urban expansion around the new church (late 18th century), characteristics of the late 18th, late 19th and early 20th the city walls; also, its the Espinhaço de Cão Mountains and the Atlantic Coast. centuries with stonework, platband and mass features. strategic position gave it

In Arrifana, visit the Ribate da Arrifana archaeological site, the command of one of the The Roman ruins of Milreu remained occupied during Umayyad monastery/fortress where Sufi master Ibn Qasī from Silves Algarve's oldest bridges, times, including a large-sized manor house, farming facilities, wrote a major portion of his mystical work during a spiritual which in this case crossed bathhouse and temple. retreat. over the Gilão River and The palace of Estói, with its gardens, fountains and statues, is a gave continuity to the noteworthy example of architectural heritage of marked east/west road from Seville ALVOR eclecticism, and the most significant expression of to Si l ves, bypassi ng the Little is known of the Islamic city of Al-Būr, an Arabic name Romanticism in the Algarve. impassible mountain lands. which replaced the Latinized name of Ipsa (Ipses). VILA REAL DE SANTO ANTÓNIO In the Castle Square, a small hisn protects the fishing village FARO against incoming enemies from the beach. The castle's origin Built in 1774 in the desert sands near the mouth of the Guadiana The richness and prosperity of the Islamic city of Faro were may be tied to the late Umayyad emirate or early Umayyad River to control Algarve fishing, it is a compelling example of the leveraged by the navigability of its port and the productivity of caliphate, due to the square layout of the property and the rationality of enlightened urbanism and the only case of an “ex its surroundings. apparatus used. The people of Al-Būr enjoyed the productivity novo” city from the time of the Marquis of Pombal. of the Alvor Ria, a humid area formed by the merging The port extended over the entire current square facing Vila-a- Once travellers cross the border, they will find near the Guadiana waterways from the southern slopes of the Monchique Dentro, with the waters of spring tides River the salt flats of the Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo Mountains. Here, the ria cuts the coastal landscape, marked by bathing the city walls and creating António Marsh Natural Reserve, and can choose to start the the shapes and colours of the seacliffs. a swamp area, in large part Umayyad Route by following the course of the river. t o d a y ' s y a r d o f S ã o CABO DE SÃO VICENTE Francisco and Manuel Over the course of their journey, they will discover castles and Bívar garden. fortresses which arose during the territorial battles to establish Cape St. Vincent is the westernmost point of continental the Portuguese/Spanish border (Castelo de Castro Marim, Forte Europe. The landscape has a steep coastline, covered in rough The city's entryway, for de São Sebastião), along with rustic villages. vegetation, punctuated by capes and rock constantly battered those coming from the by the wind, in a natural setting of rare beauty and quality. p o r t o f r e f u g e , w a s VILAMOURA through a right-angle door Age-old tradition associates this point with the tomb of St. where, encrusted in an 18th- Vilamoura, born half a century ago out of the old Quinta do Vincent Martyr, rescued, on the coast, in the 4th century, after a century building, the Algarve's Morgado in Quarteira, has risen to become Europe's largest luxury tormented journey from the place of his martyrdom. The body only in situ horseshoe arch, attributed to tourist complex, holding within the memories of its distant past. was laid to rest at the Church of Corvo, which al-Idrisi (12th the 11th century, can still be found. The archaeological site of Cerro da Vila is located before the century) called Kaniçat al-Ghurab. modern and lively Vilamoura Marina, and was discovered in 1963 The wall's path is entirely individual, in the current city setting, while a tractor was working the fields. The church, during Umayyad times, quickly became a major despite restorations and adaptations. Mozarabic Christian and even Muslim In Umayyad times, the residential, port and agricultural pilgrimage centre. Today, it is MONCHIQUE structures of the ancient Roman villa were occupied by people merely a place of memory, who divided their time between seafaring without vestiges. Near Monchique, the Castle is a Bronze-Age settlement and agricultural pursuits. which continued to be occupied at least until the end of the Travellers can feel the Umayyad emirate era, which served as a hisn or refuge in the In the mid-11th century, the m y s t i c a l f o r c e s t i l l 8th century. The site was most likely abandoned in the 11th residential complex was emanating today from century. finally abandoned, due to parts of the cape in places maritime piracy and to the such as the Fortresses of Protected by the surrounding hills, the Alferce Castle covers an p o r t ' s p r o g r e s s i v e Sagres, St. Vincent Cape and extensive area from a high hilltop in the eastern Picota siltation. Beliche, or even in a foray Mountains. It offers a broad panoramic view all the way to the through the territory's impressive coast. Vilamoura also serves as a collection of menhirs which date from the early Neolithic starting point for discovering period, the sixth century before the Christian era. Loulé and its Almohad walls and baths.