Alte, in the municipality of Loulé, Estoi, in Faro, and Bordeira, in Aljezur, are the Algarve villages that can still be finalists in the contest of the “7 Wonders of Portugal – Villages”, whose final gala takes place on September 3, in Piodão.
To get there, Alte, who is a candidate in the “Authentic Village” category, has to face public voting this Sunday, August 6, at a gala taking place in Podence. The fado singer César Matoso, born in that locality, is Alte's godfather.
According to the Municipality of Loulé, this application is intended to «promote the historical and cultural heritage, nature, gastronomy, people and customs» of that village «by attracting more people to the interior of the municipality».
Competing against Alte will be the Schist Village of Cerdeira (Lousã), Biscoitos (Praia da Vitória – Azores), Castelo Rodrigo (Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo), Fontão de Loriga (Seia), Montesinho (Bragança) and Podence (Macedo de Knights).
As for Estoi, it is a candidate in the “Monument Villages” category, with the finalists to be known on the 13th. The gala takes place in Monsanto. Luís Vicente, director of ACTA – The Algarve Theater Company, sponsors the candidacy and will “defend” the village with “the passion that is recognised”, according to the Chamber of Faro.
Also Rogério Bacalhau, president of the Chamber of Faro, will be present, as well as a «magnificent crowd that will defend the proposal of Estoi the 7th Wonder of Portugal, led by José de Paula Brito. The Casa do Povo of Estoi also provided valuable support, raising members for the cheerleading squad and dealing with artistic participation in this gala».
Also in the competition will be the villages of Almeida (Guarda), Evoramonte (Estremoz), Idanha-A-Velha, Monsanto, Monsaraz and Sortelha (Sabugal).
The Aldeia de Estoi, located in the Union of Parishes of Conceição and Estoi, «is characterized by its rich heritage, including monuments such as the Roman Ruins of Milreu, the Mother Church of Estoi, the Palace of Estoi, with its gardens , fountains and statuary or the Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Pé da Cruz, a XNUMXth-century temple where XNUMXth century patterned tiles and an image of Our Lady dating from the XNUMXth century can be found», considers the Chamber of Faro.
Finally, Bordeira, in Aljezur, competes in the category “Villages in Protected Areas”, whose gala takes place on 20 August. In this case, the Algarve representative is part of the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina.
The Church of Nossa Senhora da Encarnação, in that locality, presents, for example, strong marks of destruction from the 1755 earthquake.
The fact that the president of the Bordeira Parish Council recently died delayed the process of choosing the godfather of that locality, whose name is not yet known.
The other candidates in this category are Chão da Ribeira (Porto Moniz – Madeira), the village of Salinas da Fonte da Bica (Rio Maior), Lindoso (Ponte da Barca), Penedo (Sintra), Rio de Onor (Bragança), São Lourenço (Vila do Porto – Azores).
This gala will have a peculiarity: it will take place in Pedrógão Grande, instead of Porto Martins, on Terceira Island, as originally planned.
Luis Segadães, president of the 7 Wonders, explains why: «“thank you Portuguese people, we are going to be reborn” is a message that can be found upon arrival in Pedrógão Grande and that makes us shiver with the force it transmits. At a time when we pay tribute to Villages in Protected Areas, we wanted to talk about the need to protect our entire territory, the entire country, our forests and our villages. The region's desire to be reborn as soon as possible has led us to mobilize ourselves towards this goal, putting all our means of dissemination and the positive influence we have achieved with the general public at the service of this cause».
How to vote:
Voting in the 7 Maravilhas de Portugal® – Aldeias pre-finalists is carried out through a telephone call to flat rate numbers (760). The cost of each call (IVR) is €0,60 + VAT.
The pre-finalist marvel voting numbers are revealed on the antenna, simultaneously with the opening of the vote.
The voting period for the pre-finalists ends at the end of each live gala, always after the TV News on RTP1, and the voices of the presenters (approximately 15 minutes before the end of the Gala).
There is no restriction or limit on votes per participant. You can make any phone calls you want, in the specific period during the respective Gala.
From the list of 7 pre-finalists, the 2 most voted villages will be chosen. In a total of 7 categories, 14 villages pass to Finalists.
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