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With a programme for all tastes and ages, Porto's Historic Centre is celebrating for an entire weekend. There's music, theatre, dance, workshops, exhibitions, free and guided tours, walks and street entertainment, with an emphasis on initiatives aimed at families and the younger public, to celebrate the National Day of Historic Centres, which is marked on the calendar on 28 March.
Historic buildings, churches and museums open their doors to the public with lots of activities. Painting tiles, horse riding, attending a concert or taking part in a peddy paper are just a few.
We're in Rua da Reboleira, one of the most typical streets in the riverside area, with a medieval layout. It's easy to spot the large door of the Casa-Torre, which has housed the São Nicolau Social and Cultural Association since 1982. It's a local association with various activities dedicated to looking after the elderly. Some of them will be the protagonists of these celebrations.
There are large windows in the living room of the Casa-Torre, where many elderly people spend much of their time. From the street come echoes of conversations in foreign languages. This is a tourist attraction. "We're not confined to a space with walls, and people like to wave; just the other day, a Brazilian couple with children asked to come and say hello to the elderly." The association's director, Susana Vasconcelos, is enthusiastic about the initiatives that involve them. "It's a way of giving visibility to the our seniors."
Carminda Campos, © Gina Macedo
“Whenever there's anything, I sing”
Alice Pinto, © Gina Macedo
The São Nicolau Association has been one of the event's partners since 2018. The pandemic stopped them, but they are now taking part again with two initiatives. "On Saturday morning, we're organising a walk from Largo da Lapa to our headquarters here in Ribeira, with a tour guide who will give explanations as we pass through areas of historical interest," she says. "We want to promote physical exercise for all ages and publicise our headquarters, and down all the saints will help." In the afternoon, a "poetic-musical moment" is planned, entitled "The sounds and tones of Ribeira", with the association's choral group, based on the memories and experiences of that part of the city. "No-one is a professional singer, but we have a teacher who comes here to rehearse," says Susana.
"I don't have a big voice to be the lead, but I have a good ear so I don't go out of tune," says Alice Pinto, who is enthusiastic about the event. "Whenever there's anything, I sing," she says, adding that she "likes all the songs, because they're happy". The poetry component will be performed by users with a penchant for poetry, such as Carminda Campos. "I'm a daughter of Ribeira," is how she introduces herself. She likes to write poetry and says she "writes what she feels". "I don't want to say anything written by others; I like Guerra Junqueiro, for example, but only to read." We challenged her to say by heart a poem she had written about Porto, and Carminda was keen, even though "there's a little bit" in there that she's not sure she remembers. We reproduce just one line: Oh my Porto, old town/ you are a beautiful city/ You always have the friendly light/ of work and freedom. (...)
Co-ordinated by the Municipal Department for Cultural Heritage Management, the celebrations for National Day of Historic Centres involve around 40 organisations, including a first-timer: the National Republican Guard. "The GNR is based in many historic buildings throughout the country; it makes sense for us to join in these celebrations. Here, we are based in a headquarter full of history, and a part of that history will be told." a GNR source tells us.
The Carmo Headquarter, which occupy the former Nossa Senhora do Carmo Convent of the Carmelitas Descalços order, built between 1619 and 1622, open their doors at 10am on Saturday. Visits are planned to exhibition areas with historical objects, to the cloisters (which always make for good photographs), or to the room dedicated to Captain Sarmento Pimentel, who fought the monarchist uprising of 1919, but the main attraction will be the horse baptisms in the arena "all day long and for all ages".
© Nuno Miguel Coelho
© Gina Macedo
"At all the tour points there will be military personnel giving a short explanation. We chose not to do group tours because that restricts people, so they can use their time as they wish while they are here," a GNR source tells us.
On Sunday, those who like to wake up early can attend, at 8am, the flag-raising ceremony (or, if you're more of an afternoon person, the lowering of the flag, at 6.30pm), "with a larger guard of honour, which will be accompanied by the sound of bugles". The GNR will also have "off-site" activities: on Saturday, at 6.30pm, the GNR Symphonic Band, made up of a hundred members, will perform in the Terreiro da Sé, which will be one of the highlights of the programme; and on Sunday, at 5.30pm, the GNR String Quartet will perform in the Church of São José das Taipas.
"Off-site" will also be the collection of the historic Farmácia Moreno, which will be hosted by the MMIPO (Museu da Misericórdia do Porto). Founded 220 years ago in Largo São Domingos, this pharmacy has been a partner of the National Day of Historic Centres celebrations since 2017. "Porto is a showcase of history, very rich, diverse and relevant," says the pharmacy technical director João Almeida, emphasising that tourism has "accelerated the demand for and reconciliation of cultural heritage".
"Because our pharmacy is so old, we have a lot to tell, not just from a 'pharmacy' perspective, but from the evolution of habits in society and the city's history," he says. "Since we're working on our small museum centre, we've formed cross-partnerships with the Puppet Theatre and the MMIPO," he adds. The MMIPO will host an exhibition highlighting Rua das Flores (which celebrated its 500th anniversary), culminating with the history of Farmácia Moreno, one of the oldest in the country. In turn, the pharmacy will display in its window the puppets that were part of the show "O Lobo Diogo e o Mosquito Valentim", a co-production by Teatro das Marionetas (2006).
Cartazes do Museu da Farmácia Moreno © DR
A cigarette rolling machine ("in the old days, cigarettes were rolled for medicinal purposes"), advertising posters or the original handwritten formula for one of the medicines still marketed today, "Doce Relief", are just some of the objects full of stories and memories that we'll be able to find at the MMIPO.
por Gina Macedo
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