The recovery works should require an investment of around 20 million euros, according to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, in statements made on Tuesday, during a visit to affected areas in the Central Region.
According to the MMP report on the impact of Storm Kristin, monuments such as the Monastery of Batalha and the Monastery of Alcobaça, both World Heritage Sites, they will require work to restore roofs, repair and restore damaged stonework, check electrical installations and include an emergency generator, cut and remove trees and general cleaning.
In Alcobaça it is also necessary to restore a stained glass window. The same happens with the Convent of Christ, in Tomar – another monument classified as World Heritage –, which will have to undergo repairs and restoration of spiers and gargoyles, as well as roofs with replacement of tiles and checking of flashings.
With the same asset classification, the Mafra National Palace needs roof repairs, replacement of gaps whose wood did not withstand bad weather, repair of rainwater and drainage pipe networks and wooden floors.
The National Museum of Conímbriga presents one of the most extensive lists of necessary interventions, including the removal of the fiber cement (asbestos) roof, broken by the fall of a tree, the demolition of the infrastructure of the Mosaics Workshop (the contents of which will be removed and preserved in an industrial tent) and its construction; the repair of the roof of the Casa dos Repuxos, of ruins containers and the restoration of roofs of excavated areas that were flooded, in addition to repairing exteriors, parking floors and cutting down trees.
The Machado Castro National Museum, in Coimbra, requires revision and mechanical fixation of all the sheets on the roof of the propertyreplacement of broken glass in skylights, as well as roof repairs. The Ceramics Museum – Museu José Malhoa, in Caldas da Rainha, also needs coverings, the felling, cutting and cleaning of fallen trees and their transport.
As for the provisional damage report from Storm Kristin, carried out by Património Cultural, it includes, in Coimbra, the Sé Nova, with damage to the roofs, the Sé Velha, to the clerestory and roofs, as well as the Church of São Bartolomeu, the Church of Santa Justa, the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova, the Botanical Garden and the Science Museum, of the University, in addition to the College of Arts, which presents “deep flooding”.
In Pombal, the New Church of Vermoil suffered “severe damage”, the Old Church of Vermoil, “critical damage”, the headquarters of the Vermoilense Philharmonic Society, “serious damage”, and the churches of Guia and Santo Amaro were also damaged.
In Tomar, Charolinha da Mata dos Sete Montes requires total reconstruction. On Tuesday, the Minister of Culture, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, revealed that parts of the monument fell into the water, requiring drainage to recover the pieces, estimating a year of work and an investment of at least 750 thousand euros. In the municipality, the churches of Além da Ribeira, Alviobeira and Casais were also affected.
The Novo Fort, in Loulé, had archaeological complexes destroyed, while the Óvoa Parish Church, in Santa Comba Dão, suffered “severe structural damage”, the provisional Cultural Heritage report also indicates.
Among the affected heritage are also the Igreja da Misericórdia de Aveiro, the Parish Church of Sebal Grande and the Roman villas of Rabaçal and São Simão, in Condeixa-a-Nova; the walls of the Castle of Estremoz, where the wall structure collapsed; São Jorge Castle, in Lisbon, due to falling trees; the Church of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios in Montalvão, the Church of Nossa Senhora da Graça de Nisa, the Convent of Santo António and the Church of São Miguel, in Penela, as well as the Main Church of Assentiz, in Torres Novas. Churches in Ansião, Alvaiázere and Ferreira do Zêzere were also damaged.
In Figueira da Foz, the Paço de Mallorca, the Casa do Paço, the Brenha Parish Church, the Seiça Monastery and the Leirosa Chapel, in Marinha das Ondas, are signposted.
In Leiria, in addition to the Castle, where there was a collapse of panels and destruction of stone elementsSolar dos Viscondes and the churches of Azoia, Barosa, São Francisco, Pousos and the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora da Encarnação are also signposted.
In terms of public access, in the MMP sphere, due to the effects of bad weather, The Batalha Monastery, the Convent of Christ and the Conímbriga Museum remain closed, in addition to the José Malhoa Museum, in Caldas da Rainha, because it is located within the D. Carlos I Park, which the municipality closed to the public.
Within the scope of Cultural Heritage, all facilities are open, with the exception of the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha, which was already closed due to the works of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), an official source indicated.
Theaters and cinemas were affected
At least 12 pieces of equipment from the Portuguese Theater and Cinema Network (RTCP), particularly in the central region, were affected by last week’s bad weather, according to the Ministry of Culture.
In an assessment of the impact of the storm on RTCP’s cultural spaces, the Ministry of Culture reports damage and suspended programming at Teatro José Lúcio da Silva and Teatro Miguel Franco, both in Leiria, and at Teatro Stephens, in Marinha Grande, also in that district.
In the Leiria theaters, infiltrations and structural damage to glass and air conditioning were identified, while in the Marinha Grande theater has broken glass, leaks and “part of the stage box cover is unusable”.
Still in the central region, there is information about water ingress and infiltrations at the Teatro Académico Gil Vicente (Coimbra), as well as at the Teatro Cine de Gouveia (Guarda), in operation, which presents infiltrations at the entrance and on the stage, with “Municipal Services taking due diligence”.
At the Cine-Teatro de Estarreja (Aveiro), there was damage to the generator and also to spaces such as the stage, corridors and roof.
In the northern region, the Paredes de Coura Cultural Center (Viana do Castelo) is operating, although it has “infiltrations and structural issues”.
On the Setúbal peninsula, the Joaquim Benite Municipal Theater (Almada) has leaks and there are also “structural issues”, but the equipment is in operation. The Luísa Todi Theater does not have electricity and the cancellation of activities is being considered.
In Alentejo, the Garcia de Resende Theater (Évora) had roof tiles lifted and “understage infiltrations” and “structural infiltrations” occurred at the Portalegre Arts and Entertainment Center.
There are also the cases of the Casa da Cultura de Ílhavo (Aveiro), where the communication panels were affected, and the Teatro Lethes (Faro) which is part of the RTCP and which, having not been affected by this storm, has been closed since November due to leaks on the stage.
RTCP was created in 2019 to combat regional asymmetries in access to culture and currently has 103 cultural facilities.
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