A pioneer program of historic preservation - Portugal and the Colonies Heritage Monuments

Abstract

"Estado Novo", the Portuguese dictatorship (1933-1974), as a consequence of its nationalist and colonial ideology, understood the overseas monuments as triumphal testimonies of the national legitimacy in African and Asian colonies. However, after the World War II (1939-1945) and the creation of the United Nations (1945), the Portuguese Empire slowly started to be criticized by the international community. Thus, the political regime began to develop an all-embracing program driven to the colonial monuments preservation and, consequently, to the political Empire maintenance. This strategy was implemented in 1958, with a law that declared the Ministry of Overseas responsible for the historical buildings conservation, classification, inventory and restoration. With this paper, by identifying action lines and agents, we aim to demonstrate how the overseas monuments restoration program was developed in innovative ways.