The name Paderne derives from the lower Latin word Paterni, which means estate of Paterno, used when the area was part of the Roman Empire.

But Paderne, or as it was formerly called, Paderna, was also an old toponymy whose origins were in the Lusitanian culture, signifying rough, tough, hard and intractable.

The castle was taken by Christian forces of King Sancho I of Portugal, but retaken by the Moors again, who kept it until 1248, when knights of the Order of St. James, under Paio Peres Correia, defeated the Islamic garrison.

The castle of Paderne was purchased in 1997 by the Instituto Português do Património Aqruitectónico, or IPPA, the forerunner of the National Registry IGESPAR.

Flights to the region are handled through the gateway at Faro, while rail services run through the CP byway of Albufeira.