Almourol
Rota dos Templários. Castelo de Almourol já pode ser visitado numa sala a três dimensões
Vila Nova da Barquinha continua a inovar no setor do turismo. Registo, neste particular, para mais uma mais-valia que é colocada à disposição dos turistas – e não só – principalmente para todos quantos, por questões de mobilidade, não podem visitar o Castelo de Almourol. Está, assim, em causa a inauguração de uma sala de visita imersiva, a 360°, nova acessibilidade que agora é realidade no Centro Cultural, precisamente no Posto de Turismo, num edifício que já tem o Centro de Interpretação Templário de Almourol, sem dúvida uma das maiores atrações histórico-culturais do concelho e do Médio Tejo. E foi perante uma atmosfera Templária que Fernando Freire, presidente da Câmara de Vila Nova de Barquinha, abriu a sessão propriamente dita, referindo que a Rota dos Templários se pretende assumir como um produto turístico, reforçando que está em causa um trabalho de equipa. Jorge Simões, segundo secretário da Comunidade Intermunicipal do Médio Tejo, fala da concretização de um trabalho muito importante, mais ainda para pessoas que não conseguem, por meios próprios, visitar o Castelo de Almourol. Pedro Machado, presidente da Entidade do Turismo do Centro de Portugal, também marcou presença e destacou o papel relevante de cada um dos municípios da região, reforçando que Vila Nova da Barquinha tem um conjunto de componentes de ativos diferenciadores. Assista ao vídeo editado pela nossa redação.
III International Conference “Order of the Temple – Spiritual Chivalry – Templarism”.
The Templar Interpretation Center of Almourol (CITA) of Vila Nova da Barquinha promoted, on the weekend of November 13th and 14th, the III International Conference “Order of the Temple – Spiritual Chivalry – Templarism”.
The municipal auditorium hosted some of the best national and international experts on the subject, with speakers from countries such as Spain, the United States, Croatia and Portugal: Luis de Matos (Chancellor of OSMTHU), Carlos Trincão (Teacher and member of TREF), Álvaro Barbosa (Architect and former director of Convento de Cristo), Virgílio Alves (Philosopher and Senior Technician in Public Administration), João Pedro Silva (Researcher and member of OSMTHU), Ernesto Alves Jana (Historian and member of TREF), Jefferson Perry (former -military), José Miguel Navarro (OSMTHU’s Senescal expert in security systems), Lovro Tomasinec (Croatian Order of Knights Templar OSMTH) and Manuel J. Gandra (CITA Researcher and Curator).
The book “Almourol – 850th anniversary of its foundation, in the context of the Order of the Temple in Portugal”, was launched at the event.
Fernando Freire, Mayor of the City Council, and Paula Pontes, Councilor for the Department of Culture, were present at the conference. The initiative also featured the musical animation of Fernando Espanhol, in a medieval music moment.
The Almourol Templar Interpretation Center is the first of its kind in Portugal. It has a permanent exhibition room, a space for temporary exhibitions and a projection room for films on the theme of the Templars. The Library – Templar Archives is also located in the same building, which has a vast literary collection dedicated to this theme, the result of donations from Teresa Furtado and Manuel J. Gandra.
Centro de Interpretação Templário de Almourol; Largo 1.º Dezembro; 2260-403 Vila Nova da Barquinha Tel.: 249720358E-mail: cita@cm-vnbarquinha.pt
I International Conference of the Temple, Spiritual Chivalry and Templarism in Almourol available in video (full lenght, all conferences and visits, 9h30m)
The Municipality of Vila Nova da Barquinha just released the full 9h30m of video that documents the full I International Conference of the Temple, Spiritual Chivalry and Templarism that took place in Almourol, Portugal in October, where the milestone Protocol of Almourol was signed.
The I Conference was the first International Event organized by the CITA (here and here), an Interpretation Center for the Order of the Temple and the Order of Christ that complements the world famous Templar Castle of Almourol.
During the Event the OSMTHU and the OSMTJ, represented respectively by Master Antonio Paris and Regent Nicholas Haimovici-Hastier, signed a Protocol with the Municipality, declaring the CITA and Almourol as an International Place of Templar Cultural Interest. Both branches of the Order also committed to the development of the library and archive available at the CITA and the organization of three yearly Conferences where members of the Order, the academic community, researchers and the general public can come together and celebrate the Templar heritage (here).
Short clip of how the collaboration came to be:
PROGRAM OF THE I CONFERENCE
The released videos extensively document the Guided Tours and the Conferences that took place along three days in October 2019. A large part of the content is in English. The footage will be edited shortly in order to make the conferences more accessible and subtitle in English those that are only available in Portuguese.
The present uncut release is, however, very useful for all those who were not able to attend and want to have access to all the discussions and groundbreaking research presented. Reviewing the videos will also provide almple reason not to miss the II International Conference to be held in Almourol in October 2020. (more info: osmthu@mail.com)
THE VIDEOS (Parts 1, 2 and 3)