At the Chamber Meeting of September 7, 2022, the update of the Internal Regulations of the Museum of Mértola was unanimously approved, where the most relevant change is related to its new name – Museum of Mértola – Cláudio Torres. This is a well-deserved tribute and recognition for over 40 years of work in favor of the preservation and enhancement of the heritage of the municipality of Mértola, which has a strong expression in the 14 centers of the Museum of Mértola.
Cláudio Torres’ pioneering vision combines Heritage, the territory and its people as the main drivers of local development. The museological program is structured in a multidisciplinary approach of heritage valorization and dissemination with an appealing expository discourse that privileges the installation of museological centers in the place of archaeological finds. The 14 museum centers allow the creation of dynamic routes to discover the past of this place, strongly connected to the Guadiana River in which, in the words of Cláudio Torres, “the museum is the village itself”.
The museum is “a protective space capable of concentrating and synthesizing the soul of a site or territory, capable of dignifying the deepest character of a community. The local museum becomes more significant when it is divided into several thematic nuclei and when these gradually include protection areas, access roads, doors and areas, walls, vegetable gardens and orchards. And especially when inside, living their lives and benefiting from that past, there is an entire interested, conniving and supportive population. This is, little by little, the Museum of Mértola” (Cláudio Torres, 2014).
Cláudio Torres deserves this tribute and recognition. The Museum is proud and committed to the continuity of a work of excellence in the preservation, enhancement and dissemination of the Heritage of Mértola. Mértola and its population thank you!
