Alcanadas Village

Parish Council of Batalha and Parish Council of Reguengo do Fetal, Municipality of Batalha, Portugal

The name of the village refers back to Noah’s Ark, which crashed into the hill where the village of Alcanadas now stands. In honour of this legend, there is a monument in the village with a sign indicating where Noah’s Ark ran aground. Another explanation for the origin of the name “Alcanadas” was the Arab occupation that lasted several centuries in the region.

The history of the village also includes mining activities, which occurred between the 19th and 20th centuries. This sector employed both men and women, with the men working inside the mines and the women sorting coal outside. This activity ceased after World War II, giving way to farming, which became the main economic occupation in the region.

see location
Alcanadas Village, Municipality of Batalha

Ark of Salvation

The exhibition presented by the Museum of Lourinhã in the village of Alcanadas led the community to reflect on what they would like to save today, resulting in the creation “Ark of Salvation”. The participants thus honour the name of their village, which originates from the legend of Noah’s Ark and serves as a shelter for objects, memories and messages of hope.

Ark of Salvation

Alcanadas, Portugal, 2022
Sculpture
Wood, various objects, photographs and lace.

This artwork is a collective creation made by the community of Alcanadas,
from Municipality of Batalha, as part of project “Museu na Aldeia” (Museum in the Village).

Dionísio Vieira | Irene Carreira | Isilda Vieira | Joaquim Franco | Júlia Vieira | Natércia Matos | Noémia Meneses | Odete Franco | Palmira Frasão | Preciosa Franco | Rosinda Vieira Franco Virgílio Batista Franco | Zulmira Vieira

Technical support: Artymanha

view artwork
Arca da Salvação – Obra artística da aldeia de Alcanadas, Município de Batalha, em exposição no Museu da Lourinhã. Projeto Museu na Aldeia.

Museum-Village Route map

The Museum in the Village Project has transcended geographical boundaries by bringing together museums and villages from 26 different municipalities in Portugal. The map highlights the three participating regions and reveals the route between the museum and the village, where Cultural Heritage acts as a bridge to bring together municipalities, celebrate traditions and enhance territorial cohesion.

I liked it when we had the artwork from Museu da Lourinhã here. We arranged a group of people and every week two of us would come and we always brought a snack. And we would spend Sunday afternoons socialising, because thankfully a lot of people would always come to visit. We would explain the origin of what was in the exhibition and at the end we went for a snack. We socialised with each other.

Rosinda Vieira Franco
Community of Alcanadas, Municipality of Batalha

Exhibitions Credits

  • Cultural Promoter
    SAMP – Sociedade Artística Musical dos Pousos
  • Co-financier
    Iniciativa Portugal Inovação Social
    Programa Operacional Social e de Emprego (PO ISE)
    Portugal 2020
    Fundo Social Europeu (FSE)
  • Social investor
    Câmara Municipal de Leiria
  • Partner
    Rede Cultura 2027
  • In collaboration with
    Município da Batalha
    Município da Lourinhã
    GEAL – Grupo de Etnologia e Arqueologia da Lourinhã
    Museu da Lourinhã
    União de Freguesias de Leiria, Pousos, Barreira e Cortes
  • Museums Working Group for project “Rede Cultura 2027”
    Alberto Guerreiro | Museu Raul da Bernarda
    Sónia Santos | Município de Ourém
    Bruno Silva | Rede de Museus e Galerias de Óbidos
    Dóris Santos | Museu Dr. Joaquim Manso
    Filipe Guimarães da Silva | Fundação Mário Soares e Maria Barroso
    Jorge Figueiredo | Município de Porto de Mós
    Luís Figueiredo | Museu Damião de Góis e das Vítimas da Inquisição
    Margarida Moleiro | Museu Municipal Carlos Reis
    Raquel Janeirinho | Rede Museológica do Concelho de Peniche
    Vânia Carvalho | Museu de Leiria
  • The 13 Villages
    Alcanadas (Batalha) | Louriceira de Cima (Arruda dos Vinhos) | Ateanha (Ansião) | Cabeças (Alvaiázere) | Cercal (Cadaval) | Columbeira (Bombarral) | Fanhais (Nazaré) | Freixianda (Ourém) | Folgarosa (Torres Vedras) | Mosteiro (Pedrógão Grande) | São Bento (Porto de Mós) | Fetelaria (Sobral de Monte Agraço) | Pena e Casal da Pena (Torres Novas)
  • The 13 Museums
    Casa do Tempo (Castanheira de Pera) | Centro de Artes Caldas da Rainha | Centro de Estudos em Fotografia de Tomar | Rede de Museus e Galerias de Óbidos | Museu de Arte Popular Portuguesa (Pombal) | Museu da Lourinhã | Museu de Aguarela Roque Gameiro (Alcanena) | Museu de Leiria | Museu do Vidro (Marinha Grande) | Museu e Centro de Artes de Figueiró dos Vinhos | Museu Damião de Góis e das Vítimas da Inquisição (Alenquer) | Museu Raul da Bernarda (Alcobaça) | Rede Museológica do Concelho de Peniche

    The project also had the collaboration of museums from the 26 participating municipalities.
  • SAMP Contigo | Coordination
    Raquel Gomes
  • Museu na Aldeia | Coordination
    Gabriela da Rocha
    Sofia Neves
  • Museu na Aldeia | Teams of the project
    • SAMP | Artistic team
      Bruno Homem | Musician
      Filipa Cunha | Music
      Inesa Markava | Artistic Director of Performances
      Jesus Kristen | Musician
      Raquel Gomes | Community Artist
      Ruben Santos | Musician
      Sofia Neves | Actress
    • SAMP | Technical team
      Ana Figueiredo | Communication and Content Manager
      Cátia Gaio | Logistic and Financial Support
      Gabriela da Rocha | Museologist
      Henrique Chaves | Sociologist
      Lara Matos | Graduate in Social Psychology
      Leonor Capricho | Graphic Designer
      Ismael Neves | Logistic and Financial Support
      Telma Pereira | Production
    • Texts
      Ana Figueiredo | SAMP
      Carla Tomás | Museu da Lourinhã
      Gabriela da Rocha | SAMP
      Henrique Chaves | SAMP
      Sofia Neves | SAMP
    • Photography credits
      SAMP | Team
      Gil de Lemos
    • Museography and exhibition set-up
      Carla Abreu | Museu da Lourinhã
      Carla Tomás | Museu da Lourinhã
      Câmara Municipal da Lourinhã
      Gabriela da Rocha | SAMP
      Inês Soares | Novonovo
      Lorenzo Scodeller | Novonovo
    • Graphic design
      Leonor Capricho | SAMP
    • Exhibition equipment design
      Paolo Martini | Novonovo
    • Carpentry service and ark design
      Artymanha
    • Insurance of the artwork
      LUSITANIA, Companhia de Seguros, SA
    • Acknowledgements
      Comunidade de Alcanadas
      Dulce Vieira e José Vieira
      Centro Recreativo de Alcanadas
      Museu da Comunidade Concelhia da Batalha
      Politécnico de Leiria
      União de Freguesias de Leiria, Pousos, Barreira e Cortes
      ANAFS – Associação Nacional de Alistados das Formações Sanitárias

Collaborators

Other villages