Ivânia Monteiro
Castles and Town Walls of the Mondego Network Coordinator
The creation of the Castles and Town Walls of the Mondego Network in 2011 embodied a joint will to enhance the medieval heritage, both the tangible and the intangible, which was part of the defensive line of the Mondego during the Christian conquest, in particular after the retake of Coimbra in 1064.
The territory lived under Muslim domination until the definitive recovery of this region, a main episode in the long process of the definition of borders, led by the King Fernando I. Mozarabic, Sesnando Davides inherited by its services and strategic advices, the County of Coimbra, becoming the first Governor of an extensive territory, fact that fostered the creation of a line of defensive structures, castles and watchtowers, that held the advances from the South by acting as an advance guard for Coimbra.
The line was then kept by D. Afonso Henriques and, at his service, reinforced by D. Gualdim Pais, the Templar master. The conquest of Santarém and Lisbon, in 1147, set the end of this military line, placing the border between the two ideals further south.
This story which served as a motto for the creation of the network of Castles and Town Walls of Mondego, hold today by the existence of physical heritage such as the castles of Lousã, Penela, Pombal, of Ega, Soure and Montemor-o-Velho, by the fortified wall and the Towers of Coimbra (Almedina's and Anto's), by the Monumental cluster of Santiago da Guarda, by the Tower of Miranda do Corvo and the tower and fortress of Buarcos. This episode, forgotten for centuries, is now revived by fourteen entities: the municipalities of Ansião, Coimbra, Condeixa-a-Nova, Figueira da Foz, Lousã, Miranda do Corvo, Montemor-o-Velho, Penela, Pombal and Soure; the Regional Office for Culture of the Centre, the Regional Tourism Authority for the Centre of Portugal, the Pedro Nunes Institute and the University of Coimbra. Together, these entities seek to create conditions to dignify the history and leverage a cultural and touristic product of excellence from the existing heritage, creating in February 2011 the Agency for the Development of Castles and Town Walls of the Mondego Network.
Over the past few years the Agency, was funded by the Mais Centro program (QREN, UE), released shares in heritage network training, seeking to make the Mondego Defensive Line an element easier to interpret and experience. On one hand, led the launch of communication initiatives, as the audio guides, the signs, transversal itineraries, children's products or virtual equipments at the monuments. On the other hand, while the focus brand of medieval heritage, we worked the cultural entrepreneurship aspect. By the way, the importance of the network stems from the opportunities that we intend to create in the territory. We want to create a differentiated product that contributes to boost the local economy and therefore develop initiatives that promote support for cultural investments (material and immaterial), by identifying funding sources, strategic partnerships, possible settlement locations, contacts and the possibility of integration into thematic networks.
The stimulus to the cultural offer related to the Network was needed. To this end we have developed a guide for Support and Encouragement for Cultural Entrepreneurship, available on www.empreendedorismocultural.pt, a tool that allows the entrepreneurial potential to value the territory by the economic importance that it may have, taking note of the diversity and heritage wealth and to know examples of success in the different cultural areas. The Agency also offered cultural entrepreneurship workshops. It was exactly under one of these workshops that we had the opportunity to meet the "My own Portugal" boxes project on a early stage. The workshop "Crafts" worked as a space for discussing ideas and solutions to this initiative that turned out to be beneficial for the territory, as we have the opportunity to reach a partnership for the launching of the "Mondego's Defensive Line" Box. These events created meeting opportunities for things to happen, expecting that could rise from those projects in the areas of culture and cultural tourism with potential of business for the network. The dynamics of My Own Portugal is part of the existence of creativity and the ability to create, assumptions that us in the Network believe essential to generate cultural, social and economic wealth in the territories. For all this, we congratulate the young entrepreneurs of this initiative, trusting and hoping for it to be recognized as a quality product capable of mobilization, of dreams and travels through the territory of the Mondego's Castles and Town Walls Network!
Come with us!