The Atas de Vereção de Loulé from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries are the new National Treasure. The classification was unanimously attributed by the National Council of Culture and is only awaiting publication in the Diário da República.
Among the set of minutes there is one that stands out: the one from 1384, considered the oldest in Portugal.
"There is one, from Porto, from 1387, but the one from Loulé dates from 1384. That is why we can say that it is the oldest known act in the whole country," explained Dália Paulo, Municipal Director, to the Sul Informação.
The minutes of the council of a municipality correspond to the written record of the deliberations resulting from the meetings between the municipal officers and the remaining municipal elite, where the daily affairs of the municipality and its inhabitants were debated.
For Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé, this is really “a national treasure” that the municipality possesses.
“Furthermore, 1384 is such an interesting year, part of a period of crisis of succession to the throne. We are fortunate to have these minutes from that year and others from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries that allow us to make an ongoing study of local history», said the mayor to Sul Informação.
«What we have here is something unique in the country and it is, without a doubt, a resource to also study the History of Portugal. Our Municipal Archive is one of the best in the country», considered the mayor.
Initially, for this Wednesday, December 12th, a ceremony to commemorate the Atas de Vereação as National Treasure was planned. Only, however, the event was canceled «due to the fact that the attribution of the Doctorate Honoris Causa, by the University of Algarve, to Professor Romero Magalhães is scheduled for the same day», explained Dália Paulo to our newspaper.
“We wouldn't have with us all the people we want for such an important moment. We still thought that we could reconcile the two things, but we realized that it was not suitable, even because of the impact we want to give to the ceremony», he added.
The idea now is to reschedule the initiative to «the beginning of next year, between January and the beginning of February», he revealed to the Sul Informação the Municipal Director of Loulé.
The ceremony will feature a tribute to Carlos Albino, journalist from Loulé, which was the main driver of the process that gave rise to the classification of these Minutes as “National Treasure”.
“He has always been someone who challenged us, and even me personally, to value our culture and our heritage. It is a fair tribute», according to Vítor Aleixo.
These Atas de Vereação are currently at the National Museum of Archeology, as part of the award-winning exhibition ““LOULÉ. Territories. Memoirs. Identities”.
With this attribution, the Algarve now has two National Treasures: the Atas de Vereação from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries of Loulé and the Roman Mosaic of the Ocean God, from the Museum of Faro.
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