Underwater archaeology in Arade will advance before works in the port of Portimão

The Portimão and Lagoa Councils, together with the National Centre for Nautical and Underwater Archaeology (CNANS), are preparing the application “Musealisation of archaeological finds from the bottom of the Arade (underwater archaeology)” within the scope of the Algarve 2030 Regional Programme.

The notice for submission of applications, which was published on 30 September, has an available allocation of 2 million euros, 60% financed by the ERDF, corresponding to a total investment of 3,3 million euros.

The project will last for three years, and applications must be submitted by January 15th.

This project aims, according to the notice published by the Algarve 2030 management entity, to “support underwater archaeological work, excavation and prospecting, the registration and conservation of archaeological assets originating from contexts existing in the Arade River estuary, and the subsequent museumization and exhibition in cultural spaces in Portimão/Lagoa, promoting the tourist appreciation of historical and cultural resources”.

It also aims to respond to some of the measures provided for in the Environmental Impact Statement (DIA) of the Deepening and Widening Project of the Navigation Channel of the Port of Portimão, a mega project that is intended to allow the entry of larger cruise ships into that port, located in the estuary of the Arade River.

But what does all this actually mean? Sul Informação went to speak with some of the participants in the future candidacy, to better understand what it is about.

Isabel Soares, head of the Museums, Heritage and Historical Archives Division of the Portimão City Council and, in practice, director of the Portimão Museum, explained that, between the three entities involved, “a strategy will be developed, financial management and the carrying out of archaeological, conservation and enhancement work” of the heritage that is discovered by the underwater archaeological excavations that will be carried out in the Arade estuary, to allow the progress of the port works.

«Considering the Portimão Museum's vocation as a heritage repository of the Arade estuary and the experience accumulated in this area, the Portimão local authority intends to requalify the underwater archaeology section of the Museum's permanent exhibition, participate in an exhibition in the territory, reinforce its human resources in the areas of conservation and underwater archaeology, as well as qualify the Museum's laboratory and reserves to treat archaeological assets from underwater environments within the scope of future work», added the official.

The intervention of the Portimão Museum, said Isabel Sores, will take «into account our knowhow and the experience we have in the field of underwater archaeology».

For its part, CNANS “will provide great support in the archaeological excavations”, but it is still necessary to think about “the conservation of the pieces that will be removed and their treatment and packaging, as well as their long-term conservation. It is not just a matter of removing them and placing them in tanks”.

“These pieces, which come from the bottom of the river, have very specific requirements in terms of treatment and conservation. Special tanks are needed, which is a very slow process”, highlighted the director of the Portimão Museum, recalling that “there is an amphora from the latest excavations that is still undergoing a desalination process”.

“People think that it is taken from the bottom of the river and put in the display case. But no. In this specific case, the treatment is very specific and time-consuming. And you also need to have a technical team that can monitor it.”

There will also be the “issue of communicating and investigating all this information that is taken from the bottom of the river, through the pieces and the records”. And this communication could involve the creation of a “museum centre, a structure, that can house and make these materials known”.

Does Portimão have the conditions to create this new museum center?, I wanted to know Sul Informação.

“There are several possibilities. There is the possibility of creating a new center to house the pieces, but we also have very good temporary exhibition rooms,” replied Isabel Soares.

«According to our experience, and what CNANS itself tells us, this will be one of the largest underwater excavation campaigns in the country». Therefore, «taking into account what happened in previous campaigns, it is expected that there will be a large quantity of material».

Now, the person in charge of the Portimão Museum believes that “there will be enough material for everyone: there will be enough material to create a museum centre. And there will be enough material for a temporary, long-term exhibition, which could be moved from here to Lagoa. Or even, if Lagoa actually has a space and decides to create a museum centre”.

Creating a museum or a museum centre in the area next to the Arade River is precisely an objective of the Lagoa Council, which has been part of this project from the beginning.

Luís Encarnação, president of the local authority, even considers that “what is in Arade is shared by the two municipalities, it also belongs to Lagoa”.

«The museum project we have for the municipality also involves helping to conserve, preserve and, if possible, also make the archaeological evidence we have in our territory, including the Arade River, available for viewing».

“Our museological perspective is a little bit outside the box, because we don’t have a traditional museum. We are in the middle of building the Casa da Cidadania, which is a museum that, basically, is the basis of everything. It is a museum of social movements and not exactly a museum where pieces, especially archaeological ones, are exhibited,” added Luís Encarnação.

«But the issue of archaeology is also included in our museum project, which has several areas and points of interest. We are very interested in preserving our identity memory related to wine and the winery, as well as issues of fishing and activities linked to these riverside activities».

As for the remains that will be removed from the bottom of the Arade River during the future underwater archaeological excavation campaign, the mayor guarantees that the Municipality of Lagoa is planning to create a space to house, preserve, treat and exhibit them.

Not wanting to reveal everything yet, Luís Encarnação told Sul Informação that its local authority is “working on the recovery of a space that already belongs to the Municipality”, close to the riverside area of ​​the Arade riverbank. “We are studying and evaluating the possibility of restructuring and requalifying a building that is municipal, to transform it into a place to store archaeological materials, and also to later treat the pieces and work on the exhibition and visitor area”.

And what building is this? The mayor of Lagoa did not lift the veil and only revealed that “it is close to the place where these materials will be studied”.

In that area, the Lagos Municipality owns the Pavilhão do Arade. It may be this building that the mayor is referring to, although he did not confirm it in his statements to our newspaper.

And are the two million euros in this notice for the application enough to carry out all these projects?

Luís Encarnação immediately responds: “They certainly aren’t enough! The two million is barely enough for the research and initial treatment that needs to be done, let alone to build a structure. Investment from the Municipality will always be necessary, but we are aware of this, and this is also part of our strategy.”

The archaeological intervention in the Arade River estuary is intended to avoid what happened particularly in the 70s, when works in the port of Portimão led to the destruction of important underwater heritage.

Now, although many cities in Europe – such as Venice, Barcelona and Marseille – as well as in the United States of America, even are limiting the number of cruises or at least the size of the ships, in Portimão for about a decade there has been a project to widen the navigation channel and the maneuvering basin, inside the estuary. These works are intended precisely to allow the entry of even larger cruise ships.

This port intervention was subject to an environmental impact assessment, and the Portuguese Environment Agency, after a public consultation, issued, in July 2022, a Favorable but conditional Environmental Impact Statement, to the project “Deepening and Widening of the Navigation Channel of the Port of Portimão”, designed to allow the entry of large cruise ships.

Before these works, which are the responsibility of the Port Authority of Sines and the Algarve, can proceed, it is necessary to ensure that the pages of the past that the riverbed still holds are recorded, investigated and preserved, as far as possible. Hence the opening of this notice for the application for funds from Algarve 2030.

“What matters and what is our purpose is to safeguard what is there, in the best way possible. And to really try to make sure that things are done really well this time”, concluded Isabel Soares, director of the Portimão Museum.

O Sul Informação tried, for more than a week, but without success, to speak with the National Center for Nautical and Underwater Archaeology (CNANS), the State body that will coordinate the underwater archaeology work.