A CITY BETWEEN VISIONS: PERSPECTIVES ON THE CITY OF

15 th I N TERNAT IONAL P LANN ING H I STORY SOC I ETY CONFERENCE

1

A CITY BETWEEN VISIONS: PERSPECTIVES ON THE CITY OF LAGOS (PORTUGAL), A GLIMPSE THROUGHOUT TIME AND MEMORY, ITS EFFECTS ON ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN ENVIRONMENT.

NETO,MARIA JOÃO PEREIRA; JANUÁRIO, PEDRO GOMES; KONG, MÁRIO S. MING; GARCIA, ANDREIA

Address: Centre History Culture FCSH – New University Lisbon CIAUD Research Center, Faculty of Architecture, Lisbon Technical University CIAUD Research Center, Faculty of Architecture, Lisbon Technical University PhD Student at CIAUD Research Center, Faculty of Architecture, Lisbon Technical University

e-mail: [email protected], [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This paper is part of an interdisciplinary research project that promotes the wider dissemination of cultural heritage and sustainable development in an area that encompasses part of the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina and the Association of Municipalities of the Algarve, Portugal the so called Terras do Infante (The Infant Lands) in honor of Henry the Navigator. The municipalities of Aljezur, Lagos and Vila do Bispo, assembled efforts to develop projects of common interest. The geographical proximity, the similarities of their historical and cultural past, along with its common needs and potential, were some of the factors that motivated this institutional link.

We focused our research (strongly supported by cultural and visual analysis) in the city of Lagos once the centre of the Portuguese discoveries of the 15th century which was almost destroyed by one of the major and destructive natural catastrophes of the Portuguese and European Eighteenth-Century: the great Earthquake of 1755 whose effects went far beyond the capital city of Lisbon.

The once beautiful and prosperous “capital” city of the Algarve was not only devastated by the earthquake and consequent tidal wave, as its surviving inhabitants were left behind by the civil and military authorities.

It took almost a century, for a once very important trading city to recover. However the urban and social decay brought by the natural catastrophe was mitigated by the resilience of its inhabitants which combated and promoted resistance not only to the French invasions but also during the Portuguese civil war of the of the 19th century promoting and defending the liberal cause.

These facts were determinant for the slow reconstruction of the city and brought a new insight not only for Lagos but also for the Algarve Region.

C i t i e s , n a t i o n s a nd r e g i o n s i n p l ann in g h i s t o r y

The urban landscape and the city’s architecture are both a mirror of this historical and social events and emphasize a new beginning based on the idea of some modernity and progress sustained by the canned fish industry that began in the late 19th century and had its heyday in the 20s of the twentieth century.

During the last decades of the 19th century and the long 20th century, the city and its architecture are going to reflect the Portuguese social history and in particular the Algarve as a Region that will have a new beginning in the sixties with the dawn of Tourism as a major industry. Nowadays at the beginning of the 21st century, tourism is dangerously sustained by a model based on mass tourism, that can not only deface the beauty of the landscape as essential patrimonial heritage of the city and the region where it inserts, walking through a logic of (un)sustainability, but also and especially regarding the city of Lagos, generate almost as devastating impact as to the 1755 earthquake

Our goal is to present the actual results from our research project within the academic community and also civil organizations responsible for the protection of heritage values that may contribute to the preservation of cultural values of a region in an ethically and responsible way.

INTRODUCTION.

This communication makes part and is complementary to a research project on the preservation of memory and cultural heritage of a territory that includes the so-called Terras do Infante – an inter municipality association in southern Portugal which includes the municipalities of Aljezur, Vila do Bispo and Lagos.

This association was formed in October 2000 and aims to plan, programs and develop projects and its financing, implementation and maintenance activities associated with the planning of strategies for the common development to all three counties, as well as the development and management of common projects in various areas and interests of culture, education, information, health, welfare and urban planning, environmental protection, and heritage, in view of the economic, social and cultural development of the populations of the associated municipalities1.

The project ALJEZUR, "between visions" of Place and Memory was presented to the Congress of the Centenary of Tourism in Portugal held in Portugal in May 2011 and aims to integrate diverse knowledge and expertise, to propose new approaches to sustainable development, based on preservation of cultural heritage in its various forms, contemplating and emphasizing the register of the memory.

In this sense, and based on an integrated analysis of concepts that comprise and leverage development through sustainable and ethically responsible tourism, we intend to rehearse a new territorial approach based on the defense of the intangible heritage of Aljezur and its neighboring counties, including part of the area of Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina Natural Park.

With the disclosure of this project, we intend to promote academic reflection on the registry of the Memory and the Cultural Identity of the places as

1 In Diário da República, III série, 14 de Dezembro de 2000


3

elements that will encourage the development of another possible tourism, in the context of post modernity and of an economic crisis on a global scale, strengthened by the use of new technologies, based on augmented reality and immersive media, that will allow, first, to decrease the environmental impact and ecological footprints and, secondly, to meet other potential recipients, offering virtual tours between past, present and future, by providing specific and customizable means which include diverse records of the Memory, like photography and visual recording.

Methodologically, our project assumes its transdisciplinarity and is structured in five distinct phases, according to the presentation to the Congress of the Centenary of Tourism in Portugal in May 20112.

a. Gathering and Survey of the various registers of the Memory associated with social, economic and scenic aspects, among others;

b. Inventory, classification and cataloguing of the obtained data, depending on its type and its theme;

c. Data analysis, integration of different museum estates or previously catalogued data, in accordance with the various scientific areas involved;

d. Systematization and dissemination of the gathered information;

e. Creation of various Models of Information.

We intend to integrate the possibilities of access not only to goods and products, but also to the spirit of the place or genius loci, according to the view enunciated by Norberg-Schulz, this spirit, which manifests itself not only in the location but also in its spatial configuration, and especially in the characterization of the interplay between the spectator and the place, boosting and generating potential new areas for the municipality of Aljezur and concomitantly for the so-called Terras do Infante.

The hypothesis for this project that should be enhanced and extended to other regions of the Portuguese territory, intends to take on the reconciliation of the objectives of the maintenance and preservation of key elements of the identity of the council, its immaterial and intangible heritage (landscape, monuments, flora, fauna, cuisine, local products, etc.) as well as everyday use or enjoyment of some of its cultural assets, valuing and optimizing local identities.

By promoting an alternative to traditional cultural tourism, which involves and assumes the voyage, we encourage and rehearse other communication strategies and the preservation of heritage, using new forms of "walks" through the recorded memory of the past and the present, in view of the future.

ALJEZUR, "between visions" of Place and Memory, seeks to contribute to the definition and implementation of an ethically sustainable cultural tourism, which "goes beyond the traveler," less associated to market related issues and integrating a reflection on the ethics and the debates on the contexts of post-modernity and its paradigms.

2 Neto, M J; Januário, P, Kong, M (2011)


Man postmodern twenty-first century must assume and integrate the cultural and environmental sustainability, seeking and enhancing the experiences of his imaginary, substantiated and stimulated by creativity and the potential of technological challenges, based on culture and the global visual communication that could help bridge the boundaries of tangibility and emerge in various fields of virtuality and imagery3.

LAGOS CITY, PORTUGAL.

It is in this sense that we integrate this communication: practicing a complementary approach to the city of Lagos the closest town to Aljezur, about 30 Kms - a half hour trip - away, the main location of basic services such as hospital, court, and high schools. A city whose area of influence extends to the limits of the municipalities of Aljezur and also Vila do Bispo, another municipality, member of the association Terras do Infante.

Figure 1- Anonimous. Western Algarve roadmap, Portugal, c. 2000’s, bipmap image, dimensions (486 × 421 pixels) [http://www.algarve-portal.com/objects/algarve/RoadmapAlgarveWest_486.gif]

Our choice of this approach is justified in a context where uncertainties loom over the future Portuguese municipalities map, and it is probable, or possible, that this association might correspond to a future joint management of the three counties. Thus, Lagos assume, further, an important role at this juncture,

3 Neto, M J; Januário, P, Kong, M (2011)


5

enhancing its importance as a city with a significant area of influence compared to the others of the region.

City located in the south Portugal at the Algarve Region, Lagos is spread along the right bank of the river Bensafrim and the seaside of the magnificent Bay of Lagos. Its main economic resources derived from tourism but also from manufacturing.

According to the 2011 census the all municipality has a population of 31 000 inhabitants and the city it self circa 22 0004.

Figure 2- JANUÁRIO, Pedro (Portugal, 1970-, Fev. 2012). Total Inhabitants Chart of the Lagos

Municipality according to the Portuguese �ational Instituite of Statistics (I�E), Fev. 2012, Excel Graphic.

THE DAWN OF LAGOS.

“as happens with all places built by their inhabitants the city of the city of Lagos has evolved under the influence of shifts of power and on the value of those that inhabit them. In Lagos they always had a common denomination, the sea. Lagos is a maritime city (…) Lagos history is also the story of its connection to the Sea." (VELOSO, José, 2011, prologue).

The origin f its toponymy is Lacobriga5 which contains the Celtic word Briga (height) which can assume the existence of a fortification before the roman occupation. This territory became Carthaginian by the IV century b.C., then Roman by the I century b.C. Both civilizations left strong traces of their occupation, which lasted several centuries.

After being occupied by the Visigoths and the Byzantines, Lagos transforms itself in an important Arab city in the seventh-century. It was Abderraman III

4 Source INE – Statistics Portugal 2011 5 Oliveira (2011), Rocha (1991); Paula (1992), Correia (1994) and other historical monographs about Lagos and the Algarve region


(or caliph Abd Al Rahman of Cordoba from 929), which gave the new urban form to the city now called Zawala or Zawaia (lakes or wells) 6 rebuilding its walls7.

In 1241 was integrated in the Portuguese territory. Due to its privileged and strategic location and magnificent bay (one of the largest open bays in Europe) which could easily accommodate about 200 ships of war – from this port left the fleet which conquered Ceuta in North Africa in 1415.

Figure 3- ALMEIDA, Leopoldo de (Portuguese sculptor, 1898-1975). CASTELO, Francisco (Portuguese, Photographer). Statue of Henry the �avigator (1396-1460), in Lagos city, 1960, Linestone and Bronze.

Lagos became officially a city by royal decree in the 16th century and was already an important walled city when became the residence of the military government of the Algarve8. The city reinforced its geographical and strategic relevance in Portuguese and European context in the modern age. Lagos was also the favorite place for Henry the Navigator (1396-1460) whose image is still present in the contemporary city. His statue (1960) is a major monument structured a central square near the city walls facing the marginal avenue near the city walls, and also his resting place. Nowadays Lagos is still known as the historic centre of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries, local and tourism authorities emphasize this fact.

6 Lagos in portuguese means Lakes 7 See also: Guia de Portugal – Sant´anna Dionísio – II Estremadura, Alentejo e Portugal – Gulbenkian, reedição, 1º edição 1927 8 The other city was Tavira in the east part of The Algarve region.


7

The centre of the Portuguese Maritimes discoveries since the 15th century, Lagos was the departure place for D. Sebastião, the young Portuguese king who went in 1578 to North Africa and never came back from the Battle of Ksar el Kebir also known as the battle of Three Kings9 putting an end to the Portuguese dynasty and leading the country to a major crisis who led to the loss of its independence through a dynastic union with Spain which lasted until the mid 17th century.

Figure 4- Anonimous. CASTELO, Francisco (Portuguese, Photographer). Manueline style window,

once the hall of residence of Algarve governors. According to tradition it was by this window that king Sebastian assisted Mass before he left on his ill-fated conquest of Morocco, s.d., digital photo, dimensions (567 x 372 pixles) [http://fotografia.fcastelo.net/main.php?g2_itemId=12312]

The architectural heritage of the city and its urban form reflects all these historical events. The so called Cerca Velha - Old Wall - was concluded in the 14th century and included a orthogonal urban core – a main road and several lanes – the so called old town (viladentro)10. The renaissance walls – Cerca Nova – New Wall - began to be built in the 16th century and were concluded in the first half of the 17th century.

The city walls, the castle and the ramparts assumed a four-sided defensive form and constitute one of the most important sets of fortifications in the all region of Algarve11 consisting in 14 bulwarks and 8 gates.

Within its boundaries, were the city two major parishes Santa Maria and São Sebastião, who structured the city urban design. These parishes still

9 Sebastião, King of Portugal, the army of Abu Abdalah Mohamed Sadi (Sadi dynasty) and the sultan of Morocco Abd–Al–Malik. 10 About Lagos and its walls and fortifications see: Calapez Correa (1994). See also the city council Web site [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/muralhas] about the city walls and old images. 11 Oliveira (2011), Correia(1994), Paula (1992).


correspond, in this second decade of the 21st century to the two main boroughs of the city, whose limits exceed what today may be called the historical centre.

Figure 5- CASTELO, Francisco (Portuguese, Photographer). City walls, 2008, digital photo, dimensions (600 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/baluarte].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

Figure 6- CASTELO, Francisco (Portuguese, Photographer). Saint Amaro Bulwark or “Paiol”

Bulwark walls, 2008, digital photo, dimensions (600 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/baluarte].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

Inside city boundaries were also several convents and monasteries and was the place of residence and trade of a prosperous and dynamic community of merchants (COMPOR).

In 1444 arrived in Lagos the first slaves brought from Africa, starting then its trade. The first slave market was held at the so-called Rossio da Trindade, one of the city main doors. According to Paula, this “new” kind of market gained a


9

particular and symbolic significance that still remains12. In fact the first floor was used as house guard and also as a prison. A museological site now occupies the ground floor.

Figure 7- SANTOS, António Crisógono dos (Portuguese illustrator). Illustrated postcard showing thew old slave market, beginning of the 20th Century, B&W postcard, dimensions (600 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/escravos].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

THE 1755 EARTHQUAKE.

According to written testimonies, mainly from clergymen: This magnificent and beautiful city woke in the early morning of November the 1st with a “beautiful sunny day”13 but with a slight scent of sulfur.

For sudden the earth began to shake and the sea sought for, letting the beaches almost dry and a major wave entered the city for at least three times. The water rose up to a height of about 11 meters dragging everything around – water and food supplies included. According to Rocha (1991:66)14 the city by that time had more than 900 dwellings and approximately 3000 inhabitants, much less those 5300 who had in 15th century when the all the Algarve region was a little over 11 000 inhabitants.

Almost 90% of the city buildings were destroyed letting more than the official 400 deaths15, include the son of the governor who was absent at the Court in Lisbon. The city walls collapsed as well as all the churches and houses. According to several testimonies, mainly from church members, the all city skyline was destroyed. The tidal wave effects were felt in a surrounding area of about 4 kilometers away from the sea. The effect of the waters flow was

12 Paula (1992) 13 Victor, M, (2006); Rocha (1991; 1909) 14 This is a very important compilation of historical documents. The original edition is from 1909 15 We can assume than the number of victims could be higher. The major accounts were made by clergymen and refer the faithful victims. This could be an even higher number-not even in casualties, but also in buildings. See also The Lisboa Gazeta, 1755, nº47, pag. 377


terrible. The survivors climbed to a hill nearby Santo Amaro Church, outside the city walls, waiting for a divine intervention because civil and military authorities abandoned them. There are short but chilling reports of fear, despair, abandon and faith.

Figure 8- PARALTA, A.S. Penna (Portuguese illustrator). Illustrated postcard showing the Saint Amaro Chapel, beginning of the 20th Century, Color postcard, dimensions (566 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/escravos].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

The first signal of reconstruction were the shacks (Barracas) that were self built by the survivors, while waiting for a response from the authorities. Signal of the times, this place – is nowadays part of the new city centre and is a neglected ruin.

The civil inhabitants were left with no water; the wells and the aqueduct that supplied water to the city were destroyed or severally damaged. Neither with no food supplies, which were all buried under the rubble.

Fruits like almonds and figs, the two major consumer goods were destroyed by the power of the tidal wave. Even the wine production, one the major economic sources of the local economy, was still largely in its barrels waiting to be sold and was hopelessly lost.

The striking force of the major waves destroyed all fishing boats and shipyards. The only hope for survival lay in agriculture, but considering that the cataclysm occurred at the time of planting and the majority of houses and farms were destroyed, seeds and rural artifacts were submerges or buried under the rubbles, expectations were dashed.

We are not talking about Lagos, but also about all the Algarve Region; namely all villages around, like Aljezur, were severely damaged or even destroyed. It was a major catastrophe evolving all social strata.

The assumption of Sabastião José de Carvalho e Mello (later Marquise of Pombal) major role in Lisbon´s reconstruction has not had the same echo in the southern region of Portugal. For its reconstruction was determinant the role of


1

Lourenço de Santa Maria (1704-1783)16, the Algarve Bishop since 1752 (outgoing bishop of Goa, Portuguese India) until his death in 178317. This character, little known by the major historians, has developed a unique action in all the work of reconstruction of the territory similar to Pombal in Lisbon.

After the disaster of November the 1st of 1755, Lourenço de Santa Maria will take on the responsibility, by royal decree, of the religious, civil and military powers, while the governor Rodrigo de Menezes was absent in the capital of the kingdom.

There are references to the facts that some time after the earthquake, the governor has returned to Lagos, but after the confirmation of his son death under the palace´s ruins; he retired to the city of Tavira with the entire city garrison.

Far from the Lisbon Court, the Algarve region was peripheral and littoral. The civil authorities were almost absents. The Bishops, although in the city of Faro were more present. D. Lourenço´s role was more acutely felt in Faro, the nowadays city capital of the Algarve region, but he was the truly leader of the region reconstruction, the Pombal of the South.

All the major reconstruction measures in the region were promoted under his rules. Lisbon and the central administration were too far even in normal circumstances.

There are written testimonials, namely by itself before the Pope in 1776 as bishop and governor18 describing some of its measures and providences: truly keeping the lives of the survivors and burying the deaths. These words reveal not only a great capacity of leadership, but also charisma19.

In Lagos20, according to Rocha (1991) is noteworthy the role of brave men like the Corregedor21 António Bravo de Sousa Castello Branco who tried to keep things in order taking measures, appealing to king and authorities for help and food supplies, trying to keep alive the survivors of a dying city.

THE REBUILD CITY.

It took almost a century, for a once very important trading city to recover. However the urban and social decay brought by the natural catastrophe was mitigated by the resilience of its inhabitants. They combated and promoted

16 Lourenço de Mello born in São Pedro de Avelãs, Aveiro, Portugal. He was Son of a nobleman from the court. 17 Neto, J. B. Pereira (2007:109-111) 18 Neto, J. B. Pereira ( 2007: 114), and also Providências do Marquês de Pombal, vol III , Público editions, 2005 19 See also Rocha, Manuel J. Paulo (1991, p.141). 20 See Rocha (1991), Neto (2007) 21 A local and judicial authority designed by the king.


resistance not only to the French invasions (1808)22 but also during the Portuguese civil war (1832/1834), of promoting and defending the liberal cause.

The city was in 1833 under siege of an absolutist guerrilla, commanded by José Joaquim de Sousa Reis, named O Remexido23. Very active in the Algarve between 1836 and 1840 and was strongly repressed by the city authorities24.

Only from the late 18th century, but especially in the 19th century, Lagos would come to know a whiff of economic recovery with the canned fish industries and factories. These activities were, in large part due to the arrival of foreign industrials from Greece, Italy and France and came to enhance the number of registered fishing boats and shipyards in the city. Today is fully extinguished. This activities and industries were determinant for the slow reconstruction of the city and also to the urban design. They brought a new insight not only for Lagos but also for the Algarve Region.

Figure 9- Anonimous (Portuguese, Photographer). B&W photo of the Pinhão Fortress, s.d., B&W photo, dimensions (480 x 480 pixels) [http://drjoseformosinho.blogspot.com/2011/01/2-lagos-antiga-e-o-dr-jose-formosinho.html]

22 The French troops invaded the city under the command of the coronel Maransis. The city inhabitants enjoying the rebellious uprising of Olhão,another Algarve municipality, expelled the invaders who sacked the city. 23 Born in Estombar, Algarve(1797). Commander of an absolutist guerrilla supported in the Algarve Mountains even after the civil war. Remexido, never surrender to the liberal cause, and was executed in Faro in 1838. About his active role in Monchique, a place in Algarve major mountain, please see [http://joserosasampaio.com.sapo.pt/livros/livro%20remexido.pdf] 24 See Rocha (1991, pp.348-349) and documents describing these events, namely on November 1833. Several executions of absolutist supporters by the orders of the military commander of the city: Francisco Corrêa de Mendonça.


1

The Pinhão Fortress, said to be one of the oldest military buildings of Lagos, having been completely destroyed by the earthquake. Left on a separate piece of land, the fortress was not repaired, being neglected and abandoned until the mid 20th century. It is nowadays a private residence with touristic utility.

One of the first and still determinant sources of information about the Portuguese heritage with touristic utility, the so-called Guia da Gulbenkian (1983), was originally compiled in 192725. States that "the city is still semi devastated", having no monuments testifying to its past history and lacking absolutely all of its picturesque constructions. This guide emphasizes the new market building (1924) and the City hall dating from the 19th century.

Figure 10- SANTOS, António Crisógono dos (Portuguese illustrator). City Market, c.1940, Bazar da Moda Editions, Lagos, B&W photo, dimensions (462 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/mercado].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

Figure 11- GOMES, Zambrano (Portuguese, Photographer). City Hall of Lagos in the 30’s of the 20th century, c.1930, B&W photo, dimensions (565 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/mercado].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

25 Sant´Anna Dionisio (1927, p.301) Vol. Estremadura, Alentejo e Algarve. This guide recommends to the travelers walks or boating tours to the magnificent beaches. or to the Ponta da Piedade, where a lighthouse was built circa 1913, in the place where there was a small chapel. It is a magnificent place, marking the limit between the land and the Atlantic.


Until the mid 20th century Lagos stood a balanced city, harmonious, functional and almost aesthetically perfect in Veloso (2011) view.

It was the major work of the Promenade Marginal, created in 1960 by the construction of the National route 125, the Avenida dos Descobimentos and the following harbour works that promoted the first destruction of the organic balance of the city. In fact it gained another dimension mainly touristic, destroying some of the most important civil and military buildings of the city26.

Figure 12- Anonimous (Portuguese, Photographer). Old walled Alcacer castle of the governors, p. 1930, B&W photo, dimensions (574 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/alcácer].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

Figure 13- OLIVEIRA, Álvaro de (Portuguese, Photographer). Guiné Avenue in Lagos, c.1950, B&W photo, dimensions (607 x 800 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/mercado].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

26 See Veloso (2011), according to this important source all these projects were done without socio economics considerations, without cultural assessment and no reasoned programme.


1

Lagos is since de 60’s and mainly after the 80’s of the 20th century at the epicenter of a new kind of phenomena who could easily destroy its balance and its natural beauty: the tourism sustained by a model mainly based on quick profit: the product sun and beach and mass tourism that can not only to deface patrimonial richness of the city and county landscape as essential patrimonial heritage of the all region walking through a logic of (un)sustainability, but also generate a devastating impact as similar to the 1755 earthquake.

Figure 14- Anonimous (Portuguese, Photographer). Aereal view of the city of Lagos, 1947, B&W photo, dimensions (641 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/aéreas%201947].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

Figure 15- CASTELO, Francisco (Portuguese, Photographer); Câmara Municipal de Lagos. Aereal

view of the city of Lagos, 2011, Digital photo, dimensions (576 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/aéreas%202011].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]


The city has long spilled over the city walls and is slowing became a city full of uncharacteristic apartments and second residences dominated by concrete. The lack of urban regulations promoted an excessive construction in a major area surrounding the seaside and mainly the bay corresponding to large extent of sand, approximately 4 kms of beach, the so-called Meia praia, (half beach) which must be protected and regulated by law and not by real estate interests in a absolute contrast with past times and history and the city inhabitants resilience who promote the maintenance of the city natural beauty and the urban landscape equilibrium.

Figure 16- CASTELO, Francisco (Portuguese, Photographer); Câmara Municipal de Lagos. View of

the city of Lagos across its walls, March 2011, Digital photo, dimensions (600 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/panorâmicas].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

CONCLUSION.

There are now Several Lagos: the one based on tourism and the Sea and the Sun, the city of the day to day; the new city that assumes another centrality apart from the city walls and the historic center, dormitory of the population from adjacent, more impoverished, municipalities as Aljezur and Vila do Bispo (the other territories of Terras do Infante). The city where the main services the municipality and the large shopping malls are located. And then, there is the historical city center, almost deserted at night, dominated by bars and pubs or by some agitation that, occasionally, generates some insecurity. In this historical center, many of the buildings of the nineteenth and the early twentieth century are on sale, waiting for someone willing to resurrect them from apathy.

The touristic offer was enlarged in the last decade and a half, with the opening of new hotels of some size and especially of the Marina de Lagos (1994). This project changed the image of the town, giving it some momentum, which


1

however, due to some excesses caused by a lack of planning regulations, have been causing some chaos27.

Figure 17- CASTELO, Francisco (Portuguese, Photographer); Câmara Municipal de Lagos. Aereal

view of the Marine, Oct. 2010, Digital photo, dimensions (576 x 900 pixels) [http://fototecalagos.blogspot.com/search/label/Marina].[Fototeca Municipal de Lagos, Archive]

It is worth mentioning that some efforts have been made, promoted by some natives of the city that have felt the need to endorse the recall of the memories of the city heritage through image registration28 and their dissemination in small editions paid by the author. Or in some cases promoted by the municipality, which also has an excellent photo-library on their online web site, revealing an interest to keep alive the cultural heritage of the city.

With this paper, by establishing bridges between our investigations of Aljezur and its "cross vision", proposing a new approach to sustainable tourism based on the records of individual and social memory29, by enabling a different way of traveling through the territory and expanding it to the city of Lagos, we expect to, somehow, contribute to call attention to the necessity of the strengthening of the protection of historical and architectural heritage of a beautiful Atlantic city, whose role and influence exceeds the limits of their municipality.

REFERENCES

Calado, V. Lagos ontem, 2nd edition, Lagos, Câmara Municial de Lagos, 2005

Connerton, Paul. How societies remember, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989

Corrêa, F.C. A cidade e o termo de Lagos no período dos reis Filipes. Lagos, Centro de estudos Gil Eanes, 1994

27 The so-called Meia Praia Urban plan (PUMP) has disfigured the extensive area around the Lagos bay with touristic “resorts”, several hotels, and massive construction. 28 See also Terras do Infante a visual book, published by the municipalities association in 2005. 29 See Paul Connerton (1989).


Dionísio, S. (apresentação) Guia de Portugal – vol Estremadura, Alentejo, Algarve, Lisboa, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1983, reprinted from the 1927 original.

Mariano, J; Resende, T, Mendes, F. Terras do Infante, Terras do Infante associação de Municípios, Aljezur, Lagos, Vila do Bispo, 2005

Neto, M.J.; Januário, Pedro G.; Kong, Mário. Para um turismo ético e sustentável, um “passeio” pela memória de Aljezur, extended abstract da comununicação apresentada ao Congresso do Centenário do Turismo em Portugal, Lisboa, Sociedade de Geografia, Maio de 2011, [http://www.centenariodoturismo.org/]

Neto, João B.P. D. Lourenço de Santa Maria, um grande português, injustamente esquecido., Livro de Actas 13º Congresso do Algarve ,Silves, Racal Clube, Novembro de 2007, 109 -121

Neto, João B.P. A resposta da administração pública ao terramoto de 1755, comunicação apresentada, Colóquio Inter academias sobre o Terramoto de 1755, Lisboa, Academia das ciências, Fevereiro de 2007. Policopiado – 49 páginas.

Oliveira, M.A.; Oliveira L. Guia de Portugal de A a Z. Lisboa, Círculo de Leitores, 2011

Paula, R.M. Lagos: evolução Urbana e Património; lagos, Câmara Municipal, 1992

Rocha, M.P. Monografia de Lagos. Faro, Algarve em Foco editora, 1991, reprinted edition, from the original 1909.

Vasques, J.C. Contributos para as memórias de Lagos, Lagos, Grupo dos Amigos de Lagos, 2008

Veloso, J. Lagos a brief history of the maritime city – troughout the 20th century, memories of a beautiful city, Livros da Ria Formosa, 2011

Victor, L.M. Risco Sísmico – Centro Histórico de Lagos, EUR- OPA, ICTE, CGUL,DCISL,IGIDL, CML, 2006

Documents

A CITY BETWEEN VISIONS: PERSPECTIVES ON THE CITY OF