Mértola Vila Museu. Um projecto arqueológico de desenvolvimento integrado

Abstract

RESUMOMértola Vila Museu corresponde a uma estratégia de gestão patrimonial que se dedica ao estudo, salvaguarda, valorização e divulgação desta pequena Vila do sul de Portugal. Aqui, a investigação histórica e arqueológica é o motor de um projeto de desenvolvimento que assenta em um programa museográfico, atualmente com 10 núcleos museológicos visitáveis, disseminados pelo Centro histórico. O Museu é a própria Vila já que o circuito patrimonial privilegia o deambular por ruas e ruelas, dando a conhecer a estrutura organizativa e a sua envolvente paisagística. Desde o princípio, em finais dos anos setenta do século passado, o projeto desenvolveu-se através de um complexo processo de interação entre instituições públicas e privadas orientadas por um objetivo comum: utilizar o patrimônio para promover o desenvolvimento local, envolvendo a população e transformando-o num instrumento para consolidar a identidade local. Palavras-chave: Património, arqueologia, desenvolvimento, cidadania, identidade ABSTRACTMértola Museum Town is an asset management strategy that deals with the study, protection, enhancement and dissemination of this small village in southern of Portugal. Here, the historical and archaeological research is the bases of a project of

National Peripheries and Cultural Heritage: Community Building on the European margins

“…In recent decades, the state of abandonment, drastic reductions in their economic activities and depopulation became serious issues in the borderlands and a considerable threat to their sustainability (Albuquerque & García Fernández 2019, with bibliography). Notwithstanding, initiatives such as Mértola's Vila-Museu (an Open-Air Museum-Town) have been alleviating this trend by enhancing cultural heritage and the resilience of local communities ever since 1978 (Gómez Martínez et al, 2016;Del Espino, 2020).…”

Heritage, Tourism and Local Development in Peripheral Rural Spaces: Mértola (Baixo Alentejo, Portugal)

“…The town of Mértola itself is a walled hilltop city on the right bank of the Guadiana River (Figure 2), the choice of location being determined by its navigability, namely at 72 km from the river mouth, defensibility, abundance of water, and polymetallic deposits [68]. Within the walls, the town is today typical of modern Portuguese architectural style over an Islamic stratum [69] of considerable historic and aesthetic interest [69].…”

“…Three buildings in Mértola have been declared national monuments: the church 'Igreja Matriz' (Almohad mosque (12th century), constructed on an early Christian church (6th century), and consecrated after the Reconquista (13th century) [71]) and the 'Torre del Rio'(ancient wharf and fortified port structure (5th century), unique in Portugal, controlling access to the port and the movement of goods [69]) (misleadingly known as the 'Old Bridge' in English, though it is neither a tower nor a bridge), both in 1910, and the 'Castelo de Mértola'(the Muslim fortress (12th century) was remodelled after the Christian Reconquista (13th century) [68]) in 1951 [72] (Figure 3). These declarations of assets have not generated interventions or led to a plan to protect these to be set [73].…”

Thoughts on the socialisation of preventive archaeological conservation in Spain

“…Estas acciones, que se enmarcan en la denominada "Arqueología Pública" o "Comunitaria", pueden materializarse en jornadas de puertas abiertas [105][106] o campos de trabajo [107][108]. También son destacables algunas actividades y proyectos llevados a cabo en museos [109][110]; en todas estas acciones, hay una predominancia de discursos arriba-abajo, y las experiencias de empoderamiento hacia la sociedad pueden quedar en meras actividades divulgativas. En palabras del experto en Patrimonio Pablo Alonso, "No es casualidad que el patrimonio haya que insistentemente difundirlo, protegerlo y "valorizarlo" a través de la así llamada educación patrimonial [111, p. 68-69].…”