VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages

Abstract

Peniche Fortress is an 16th century military building located in Peniche Peninsula (central Portugal) which from the 19th century onwards served other functions, having functioned in the 20th century as a maximum-security political prison during the dictatorial regime of the Estado Novo. In September 2016, the Portuguese Government included the Peniche Fortress in the list of buildings to be integrated in the REVIVE program, a program that aims to promote the restoration of disused public built heritage through its concession to private entities for exploitation for tourism purposes. In response to this, a movement of public contestation of this decision began, which forced the government to remove the Fortress from this list and result in its transformation into a museum – the National Museum of Resistance and Liberty. The analysis of this case demonstrates, firstly, the disparity that exists between the vision of the so-called “heritage experts” that inform government decisions – focused on the architectural and historical values of the “objects” of the past (in this case, the old fortification) – and the vision of society in general and of different social groups in particular – that identify with the symbolic and social values of the more recent past of the material heritage (in this case, those linked to the functioning of the building as a political prison). Secondly, it reaffirms the idea that heritage is not “a thing”, but a social and cultural practice in which stories are selected or rejected. And finally, it stresses the need for the inclusion of public participation in governments’ decision-making processes in relation to cultural heritage.