The 2nd phase of the requalification of the Sagres Fortress will go ahead and the application for the PIT, the Tourism Intervention Program, which will finance a large part of the 3,9 million euros needed to complete the works in what is the third most visited national monument in the country.
The announcement was made by the regional director of Culture, at the Fortaleza de Sagres, on the same day that, at the port of Baleeira, the “Discovery – European Route of Discoveries” project.
The regional director Dália Paulo announced that the organization that directs and is responsible for the restoration of the Fortaleza «is working together with the Regional Coordination and Development Commission to finance this 2nd phase of the intervention».
However, even before the actions foreseen in this 2nd phase move forward, the “great undertaking” that remains to complete the 1st phase remains to be completed: the rehabilitation of the walls, which also includes their scenic lighting.
Dália Paulo said that "there is already a winning company" in the tender open for this last intervention, and the procedure is now being "evaluated by the Court of Auditors." The goal is to move forward as quickly as possible, as this 1st phase will have to be ready by August of this year, 2013.
As for the 2nd phase, it foresees a year and a half of intervention and will have to be completed in December 2014. It will start with the rehabilitation of the buildings built in the 90s, designed by the architect João Carreira.
In one of the buildings, in front of the compass rose, an Exhibition Center will be installed, whose museography and installation of contents is part of this 2nd phase. This Center, with content designed by the company P-06, will have Infante D. Henrique as its main character and will allow visitors of all ages and nationalities to travel through the history of the Sagres Promontory, but also to immerse themselves in the worlds that the Discoveries opened for Europeans, in a space that will appeal to all senses .
«Sagres, for its beauty and landscape, attracts many visitors. But we also want to tell a story, because that's what stays in the visitor's memory», explained the regional director of Culture.
The 2nd phase also includes a novelty: the "Tou Aí" festival, which will include artists from the plastic arts, literature and music from countries connected through language (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea, Macau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Timor).
It will be, as explained by Dália Paulo, a festival that will last in time and that will place Sagres at the center of this network of cultural exchanges.
The 2nd phase also includes the production of support materials for the visit (brochures, etc), the creation of an electronic page, as well as seminars and training, for the Fortaleza employees themselves but also for those in the field in the field of tourism.
Desidério Silva, president of the Algarve Regional Tourism Authority, also present at the presentation of the 2nd phase of the redevelopment of the Sagres Fortress, stressed that «Culture must have a very important focus on tourism» in the region.
He also guaranteed the «commitment» of the body he presides: «to contribute to the enhancement of the Sagres Fortress, as the most visited monument in the Algarve».
ERTA, also said Desidério Silva, is open to a "partnership for whatever is necessary", namely to "go to Lisbon whenever necessary for this project to move forward".
A support from pressure which may be important to, in fact, carry out the 2nd phase of the intervention, since, despite the aforementioned candidacy to the PIT guaranteeing a large part of the money, the completion of the redevelopment of the Sagres Fortress will need more funding, whose origin is still not perfectly clarified.
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