Tavira Guide

Islamic and Portuguese walls

1400 years passed, fourteen centuries, without any important urban nucleus developing on the banks of the River Gilão.

In archaeological digs or simple lucky finds, elements have been gathered, principally ceramics and some construction materials, which have allowed us to confirm that the North-Western area of Colina de Santa Maria was once the site of a Roman village. The settlement may have been destroyed during the Islamic period, because the excavations carried out in this area do not reveal any vestiges of construction. It is quite possible that its name was villa frigida, the cold village which gave its origins to the actual place name Bela Fria.

During the Xth century AD, it is quite probable that the alcaria (village) Gilah grew up, the place name of which is derived from the same root as the Roman surname: IVLIANVS.

During the same era, perhaps at the end of the Xth or start of the XIth century, on the right hand bank of the river, a castle was built. This was aimed at protecting the ford of the river, which permitted transit between the two banks prior to the construction of the bridge in the XIIth century.

This fortress would have occupied the summit of the hill of Santa Maria, principally in the Southern part, and in the shadow of the walls, a population began to settle, which grew naturally and by the addition of people fleeing from the North as the neogothic conquest advanced towards the South.

From the materials collected during the excavations, it would seem that in the XIth century, the community residing in Tavira was already economically strong, and it is not impossible that they lived in a simple alcaria (village), unprotected from any attack carried out by land or sea.

This primitive defensive construction would only have enclosed part of the hill on which it was built. The Southern apex of the walled area would have contained the castle. From here, the wall would have extended to Calçada dos Sete Cavaleiros, where a piece of the wall is still visible in the Church of Santiago, facing this pavement. The Baptismal chapel (Capela Baptismal) of this temple could have been a tower belonging to this primitive defensive enclosure. The wall would have then continued to the area of the facade of the church, and occupied the slope existing between Rua D. Paio Peres Correia and Jardim Dr Jorge Correia, and on in the direction of the point where Porta do Postigo square meets the back of Rua António Viegas. From here it would have continued on to the Watchtower (Torre da Vigia), built by the Portuguese, surrounded the old Convento da Graça, currently an ENATUR hotel, climbed Calçada de Santa Maria to the area of the water tank, ending up once again in the castle, perhaps in the section of the wall which is still visible today next to the gateway. (to be continued)

No related posts.