“Oh man, this is a historic day! I'm really happy!” said Fábio Capela, the young municipal archaeologist from Monchique, with a wide smile on his face. "What matters is that Monchique has the only mayor in the Algarve with a background in archeology," commented Rui André, the mayor at the end of his term, also smiling.
On a table placed next to the ancient wall of the Alferce Castle, which has been uncovered by successive archaeological campaigns, the still president of the Monchique municipality sat down with Mr. Diamantino Augusto, under the watchful eyes of four archaeologists, a volunteer, the Chamber's jurist, the mayor's secretary and a journalist, for a truly historic moment.
It was the signing of the purchase and sale contract for the approximately 6 hectares of land where Castelo de Alferce is located. There are 59.120 square meters of land on top of the hill, at the site of Portela da Pedra Branca, which, in addition to the archaeological ruins, also has many cork oaks, some eucalyptus and other trees.
The land, whose deed of sale must be made within a maximum period of 90 days, will cost the Municipality of Monchique 25 thousand euros, leaving its previous owner, Mr. Diamantino, 75 years old, with the right to, while he is alive, « manage the building, cutting down the trees, removing the cork, carrying out general maintenance», as he explained to Sul Informação the municipal jurist, Jessica Calixto. The sale value was determined after an official evaluation.
After signing the contract and the usual pandemic compliance with a clenched fist, the mayor made a point of stressing "the great availability that has always been on the part of Mr. Diamantino", who was interested in "seeing this space studied and valued". The fact is that, added Rui André, perhaps remembering the other owners of the 9-hectare area classified on the hill of Castelo de Alferce, “generally the owners have an attitude in the opposite direction, making it difficult and arranging problems”.
The mayor also hoped that "in the future, the name of Mr. Diamantino will always be associated with this space and this project."
Taking into account the agreed price for the sale of the 6 hectares, «low for what one could get in a normal business», Rui André stressed that this «only shows that Mr. Diamantino's interest was not to make money», but that «this space is valued for the interest of the parish, the municipality and the country». "It was a noble gesture to give up his personal interest."
Later, the emotional archaeologist Fábio Capela would say: "if all people were like Senhor Diamantino, seeing this as a common good, the world would be a better place!"
Now that he is ending his three consecutive terms at the head of Monchique Town Hall, he cannot re-apply, the mayor recalled the effort that the municipality made in hiring an archaeologist for its staff. «When I arrived here, there was no archaeologist in the Chamber. One day, Fábio [Capela] came to see me to find out if we wanted to edit a book with his master's thesis, which is about Castelo de Alferce, his great passion. But I told him: you have to come and work with us».
“You stay in the Chamber, you're going to take care of your future and our past,” I told him. And here we are! Now, in these excavations, Humberto [Veríssimo], who is from Marmelete, has joined the excavations», who is doing his doctorate in zooarchaeology at the University of Algarve.
Therefore, defended Rui André, «there is no reason for this project to stop in the future». Furthermore, because the Regional Coordination and Development Committee has already approved another project, which includes the creation of an Interpretative Center in the village of Alferce, which is very close by, with a walking path connecting to the castle hill, the appreciation of the ruins and even the placement of information panels in the archaeological site.
Visibly happy, Senhor Diamantino went to take a look at what the archaeologists have been doing in the excavation campaign that is taking place on the hill, until the end of August. “I'm happy with this. That's why I come here often», he said.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação
What is Alferce's castle?
O Cerro do Castelo de Alferce is a fortified town that occupies a rocky elevation with 487 meters of maximum altitude. The archaeological site is composed of three non-concentric walled enclosures, and it should be noted that the commonly called Alferce Castle corresponds to the upper fortified enclosure.
In addition to the Islamic-Omiad occupation, from the 5th to 4th centuries AD, this hill also has archaeological remains from recent phases of Prehistory, namely within the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods, which took place respectively in the XNUMXrd and XNUMXnd millennia BC, that is, between XNUMX and XNUMX years ago. It appears, therefore, that this place was occupied by different human communities and at different civilizational moments.
Until the end of August, there is an archaeological campaign taking place at the site. Last week of next month. there should be an open day, so that the population can climb the hill and learn about the researchers' work.
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