Archive of the Lagoa and Lagos wineries donated to be treated and opened to researchers

Archives, as well as pieces of industrial archeology were donated by Única to Câmara de Lagoa

Grape delivery records since the 50s, data on partners and their location, quantities of wine produced, sales and exports, photographs, labels. All these and much more information, about almost seven decades of life of the former Cooperative Wineries of Lagoa and Lagos, have now been donated to the Municipal Archive of Lagoa, which will process them.

The archival estate had been inherited, in 2008, by Única – Adega Cooperativa do Algarve, which resulted from the merger of the two other wineries. With the upcoming changes, due to the sale of the cooperative's premises in Lagoa, all this information heritage was at risk of being lost.

The protocol for the transfer of this file was signed on Wednesday, the 14th, between the mayors of Lagoa (Francisco Martins) and the management of Única (Maria Alice Saraiva), in a ceremony that took place in one of the buildings of the former Adega de Pond that still stands.

That archive is a heritage «of inestimable value, not only for the memory of the municipality of Lagoa and the Algarve region, but also of great relevance for the knowledge of the history of Portuguese wine production in the second half of the XNUMXth century».

Diogo Vivas, responsible for the Municipal Archive of Lagoa, pointed out that this is an “unknown to the general public, neither studied nor organized” but “possible to be organized”, to avoid the “danger of loss”.

Francisco Martins, Mayor of Lagoa, stressed that «the protocol is much more than safeguarding the history of the winery, it is safeguarding the history of our municipality». For, added the mayor, at least since the mid-twentieth century, «the history of the winery is also the history of the municipality of Lagoa».

Maria Alice Saraiva, president of Adega Única, highlighted the “rebirth effort, presence in the Lagoon community” that has been made by the new direction, with less than a year of work. It is an "effort", he added, that "has always been accompanied by the City Council".

The wine and its production, said the responsible, are an important «heritage» of the Algarve. Therefore, the donation of the winery archives to an entity that can handle it was considered a milestone in the preservation of this heritage.

But that's not the only thing that the Câmara de Lagoa will inherit of the Winery. This is «owner of a vast array of winery equipment, from machinery and agricultural implements, to bottles of wine and spirits from its production», elements that will be used to create the nucleus of the future Municipal Museum. Part of them was, on Wednesday, exposed in a simple way, during the signing of the protocol and the magusto, accompanied by Lagoa wines, which followed.

«This is a set of objects related to this economic activity, which served as the basis for the operation of the wineries and which have significant heritage value in the field of industrial archeology, obsolete, given the technological evolution and manufacturing processes, but in a reasonable state of conservation», added Diogo Vivas.

For now, the idea is that this industrial archeology remains in the premises of the winery in Lagoa. But the mayor took the opportunity to announce that a wine press, which is part of this estate, will soon be placed in the center of the EN125 roundabout next to the winery. This, of course, if the company Infraestruturas de Portugal, responsible for the national road, authorizes it. “We just need to decide who is in charge of the roundabout, because it seems that, after all, it belongs to nobody”, joked Francisco Martins.

As for the archival assets, Diogo Vivas revealed to the Sul Informação that it will take “many months” of work to classify, catalogue, store and process all the information from the two former wineries.

For now, all the documentation seems to be in «good state of preservation», which, in some way, facilitates the long task of archivists. But it is not yet known when everything will be properly dealt with, so that the information can be made available and open to researchers and all other interested parties.

 

Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação

 

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