Salir
Rural village near Loulé with the ruins of a Moorish Castle
- District: Faro > Municipality: Loulé > Parish: Salir
- Population: 2.775
- Distances: Faro Airport 32 km, Lisbon Airport 252 km
- Tourist Info: Posto de Turismo de Salir
Salir is a parish (freguesia) in the municipality (concelho) of Loulé. This agricultural settlement was elevated to a village (vila) in 1993.
It is very likely that the area was inhabited by Celts and Romans, although there is not a lot of hard evidence to support this. Salir itself was occupied by the Moors in the 12th Century, when the castle Castelo de Salir was erected to protect the southern Algarve against the Christian re-conquest. Up to now, it has only been possible to excavate some of the foundations of the castle.
The agricultural produce in this region includes cork, carob beans, (alfarroba), figs and almonds. The schnapps (medronho) distilled from the fruits of the arbutus tree is a very popular digestive. Hunting is an important activity, and the restaurants in the area specialize in various types of game stews.
