At the beginning of December, the Interpretation Centre of the Lines of Torres Vedras in Sobral de Monte Agraço turns 13 — an age that many cultures mark as the time when childhood ends. What better way to celebrate the anniversary than with a story set to music for children and their families?
On the morning of Sunday 8 December, take the kids to the CILT in Sobral de Monte Agraço to watch a dramatisation, with live music, of Não há Duas sem Três, from the series ‘Contos com História lá dentro’.
And if you're one of those who suffer from triscaidecaphobia — that is, who believe that the number 13 brings bad luck — do as many hotels do and call it, for example, birthday number 12A. Don't let that stop you from popping in!
See all the information in our Agenda.
In the early evening of Saturday 19 October, unusual movements were taking place in the town square of Sobral de Monte Agraço. On one side, supported by artillery and a large number of precariously armed villagers, the Anglo-Portuguese army was taking up position. On the other, French troops were shouting ‘Vive l'Empereur’ while enthusiastically loading their muskets. From a high window in the town hall, a brave peasant woman was narrating the events.
Settled on one side of the square, the onlookers held their breath and armed themselves with their smartphones, preparing to relive one of the most remarkable episodes in the defence of the Lines. The first sign of commotion came when the fearless locals captured an invading soldier, who was immediately placed under an identity and residence warrant. Then, illuminated by a full moon that had undoubtedly been hired for the purpose, the fighting began.
Jumping to their feet with every cannon shot and thrilled by the musket discharges, the audience followed the martial movements intently. Next took place heavy hand-to-hand combat, a duel between the two gallant commanders of the warring forces, and an assault on the town hall. The French attack on the seat of local power culminated in the infamous raising of a tricolour flag, with the population watching in amazement as many papers and... furniture were thrown out the windows. In Sobral de Monte Agraço, historical re-enactments are taken very seriously.
See the photo gallery right here.
A coral can live for 15,000 years. At least one pine tree — the Methuselah — has been alive for almost five millennia, and Ginkgo biloba trees can reach a thousand years. In contrast, a fly rarely lives more than a fortnight and some insects live no more than two or three days. For a fly, human life is an eternity. For a ginkgo, a week.
Territories also have a peculiar relationship with time. For a country like ours, ‘two hundred years ago’ was yesterday. For some more recent nations, perhaps the beginning of their history.
We are well aware that our perception of time depends on what we do with it: ten years are only an instant if they are used well. Perhaps that's why we find it hard to believe that a decade has passed since the Portuguese Parliament elevated the Lines of Torres Vedras to the category of National Monument.
With every celebration of this date, we feel that it was worth it. Not only has the region — which brings together a varied and multifaceted group of municipalities in a common cause — unhesitatingly taken on the historical, cultural and heritage legacy of its important role in the Napoleonic Wars, but the positive effects of its actions on local culture, tourism and the economy are becoming increasingly apparent.
On 20 October, we celebrated the tenth anniversary of the elevation of the Lines of Torres Vedras to National Monument status.
The ceremony, which took place at the Cineteatro in Sobral de Monte Agraço and was presented by actor Paulo Pinto, opened with a speech by the president of the RHLT, José Alberto Quintino. ‘O Forte’, a graphic novel written and drawn by José Bandeira for this occasion, was presented by the author, followed by the presentation of the 2024 Wellington Honour awards. Three other awards were also presented: a Bicentenary of the Lines of Torres Vedras Commemorative Coin to the Friends of the Lines of Torres Vedras, and Honorary Membership diplomas to the 13 September 1913 Cultural Recreational Association and to the Association for the Memory of the Battle of Vimeiro. Finally, and on the subject of the Eating with the Generals gastronomic initiative, which is now being held in the region, consultant Nuno Nobre presented Ten Key Actions for Hospitality and Tourism Schools. This was followed by a Toast of Honour and an autograph session by José Bandeira.
That was how our tenth anniversary went. You'll soon realise that the eleventh is on our doorstep.
See photos of the ceremony and celebrations in our Gallery.
What is the Saloia Region in the 21st century? And what is a saloio? Márcia Mendes, from A2S - Association for the Sustainable Development of the Saloia Region, answers these and other questions that are crucial to understanding the role that the region's communities, actors, and institutions play in a territory where the urban and rural worlds intersect and harmonise. Márcia explains what A2S does and how the region's living forces can propose projects and access the investments it helps to finance.
Watch the 5th episode of our InvadeCAST right here.
Start off your Saturday morning by watching the parade of historical re-enactment groups, who take pride in scrupulously respecting the uniforms and gallantry of the armies of the Napoleonic period, and the raising of the flag at the Town Hall.
Afterwards, spend a full afternoon in Praceta 25 de Abril learning with the interactive workshops, letting off some steam with the 19th century dances and having fun with the street entertainment, including the capture and trial of an enemy soldier — an event always awaited with great enthusiasm, except, of course, by the enemy soldier.
In the evening, the atmosphere will really heat up when Junot's troops invade Sobral de Monte Agraço and engage in close combat with the 71st Regiment. Make sure you don't get shot by a musket or wounded by a bayonet, because the fighting will take place in the village streets and the field hospitals are already stretched thin.
On Sunday, hopefully having recovered from the heroics of the night before, attend the raising of the flag in Praça do Município and join us on a tribute to the Portuguese people for their efforts in the construction of the Lines of Torres Vedras.
In the afternoon, Sobral de Monte Agraço's Cine-Theatre will host the official ceremony of the National Day of the Lines of Torres Vedras, established in 2014 by the Portuguese Parliament.
The comic book O Forte, written and drawn by José Bandeira for this occasion, will be presented by the author.
This will be followed by the presentation of the Wellington Honour awards, which every year recognise and reward people or entities that have stood out on behalf of the Lines of Torres Vedras region.
As usual, the ‘Lines of Honour’ toast will round off the celebrations.
Every year, in celebration of the National Day of the Lines of Torres Vedras, participating restaurants in the region enrich their menus with delicacies inspired by the Napoleonic era. From 19 to 27 October, chefs from the four corners of the Lines will recall, reinterpret, and reinvent typical recipes from 200 years ago. And no, it's not the soldier's biscuit we're talking about — although ours are to die for.
See the list of participating restaurants in PDF format, map out your strategy and get ready to gain a few kilos. Of battles, that is.
We like to refer to José Bandeira as our ‘Renaissance man’: artist, cartoonist, humourist, photographer, graphic designer (he designed InvadeMAG and the new version of Invade magazine, for example), musician, columnist, writer, publicist, videographer, animated film author... and the list is sure to grow, because he is the master of an unquenchable curiosity.
For the anniversary of the Historical Route, which is being celebrated this October, we thought nothing better than to challenge him to create a graphic novel inspired by the Lines of Torres Vedras. That's what we did, and the result is ‘O Forte’: a comic that combines, in the author's words, ‘events that people don't know much about — the defence of the Lines of Torres Vedras — with Classical Culture, which people don't know a lot about anymore’. The idea is that, he continues, ‘two minuses will make one plus and this unpretentious and accessible work will feed a little curiosity about both topics’.
In ‘O Forte’, Bandeira writes and draws, using the events of November 1810 in front of the Lines, an allegory of the human condition, contrasting the figure of the ‘universal soldier’ with fate — personified in Archaic Antiquity by the figure of Moira, who weaves the lives of all of us without appeal.
Download the commemorations programme in PDF here (in Portuguese).
World Tourism Day is celebrated on 27 September. For the Municipality of Bombarral, however, honouring the date also means giving it continuity and consequence. According to the municipality's website, the aim is to ‘promote the capture of images representative of the municipality's natural and cultural heritage, material and/or immaterial’ and ‘that the images presented convey the tranquillity, authenticity and modern rurality of Bombarral's territory’.
Through the ‘Bombarral, the Heart of the Oeste’ competition, use your photographs and creativity to showcase the uniqueness of the municipality. You have until 31 October to enter.
Sign up and see the rules for participation here (in Portuguese).
Of all the areas of artistic creation, music was perhaps the most affected by the technological revolution at the turn of the century. With album publishing replaced by streaming platforms, musicians, bands and orchestras have increasingly turned to the stage.
Classical and erudite music, on the other hand, has always been inseparable from live concerts and has been part of the life of the Historical Route from the very beginning. Here are three suggestions:
Next 26th, the Orquestra Ligeira do Exército will perform a ‘Commemorative Concert of the Battle of Bussaco’ in Luso.
Two days later, on the 28th, it will be the turn of the ConVento Quintet to take to the stage (in an open-air setting) with a repertoire from the 19th century, as part of the ‘Music on the Lines’ project.
Finally, on 26 october, the same ConVento Quintet will take that repertoire to the splendid setting of the Ermida da Serra do Socorro.
See you there?
One of the most dramatic events of the 3rd French Invasion of Portugal and of the Peninsular War, the Siege of Almeida in 1810 was also one of the most tragically spectacular: the explosion of the powder magazine installed in the castle, compared by witnesses to the sudden eruption of a volcano, was seen and felt from kilometres away and caused hundreds of deaths. The citadel was forced to surrender prematurely, with immediate effects on Wellington's strategy.
Every year, the Municipality of Almeida, together with the Portuguese Army, organises a historical re-enactment of the events of 1810. In the 20th edition — which this year starts on the 30th of August and lasts the whole weekend — there will be everything but a magazine explosion: life in the military camp, military manoeuvres, the daily life of the period, with its musicians, composers, and dances, themed talks, various workshops, tributes, and protocol ceremonies will be waiting for you for an instructive and, above all, very different weekend.
Consult our Agenda for more information.
The Pythagoreans considered it the most perfect of all numbers, as it contains the sum of the first four positive integers (1, 2, 3 and 4) and thus encompassed all human knowledge - the equivalent today of printing out the Internet. Unlike our computers, which prefer base 16 and therefore seem pompous and unsociable to us, we count using the decimal system, which makes our lives easier by allowing our 10 fingers to be used as calculating aids. The metric system is based on powers of 10. We divide centuries into decades, not octaves or duodecades. For some reason the Top Ten has 10 entries, not 6 or 23. And what would you think of the marketing department of a company that asked you to rate its service on a scale of 3 to 14?
Because it enjoys such a high status in so many different areas of our lives, 10 is the ideal number for reinventing ourselves. The English online and bilingual PDF versions of Invade[10] are here. The paper version is in press. There are at least 10 good reasons to read it, but we prefer you to discover them for yourself.
Happy reading!
Over three days and three nights, the Mercado Oitocentista showed us how people lived, worked, ate, and frolicked in a small rural village of two hundred years ago. Because we never miss a trip through time, we were in Arruda dos Vinhos taking snapshots to show you what it was like. Read the piece in Invade[10], right here, and see the photos in our gallery.
With more or less beach sand sticking to our feet after a dip in the sea, with more or less snacks in the shade of the pine trees, our last few weeks have been very busy on planet Invade. We've done our best to prove that if for millennia there's been nothing new under the sun, there are at least things worth looking at with a fresh eye: our 10th issue is fresh-faced and aims to be a milestone in the magazine's evolution.
In this issue, we talk to Carlos Abade, president of Turismo de Portugal. We stop by Arruda dos Vinhos to tell you all about the Mercado Oitocentista and the Circuito do Azulejo, we take a trip to Vila Franca de Xira and its Fábrica das Palavras, and we dive into the Immerso Hotel Ericeira. But there's more: we toast with Shakespeare's wine in Bucelas, visit Bombarral to spoil our palates at Dom José restaurant, revisit the book Jean, John e João (which is already in bookshops waiting for you), and present the European Federation of Napoleonic Cities. Finally, we source our supplies sustainably at Funcho a Granel and introduce you to Quintal do Freixo, Adega da Lampeira, and other places along the Lines, such as the Castle of Torres Vedras and the Grilo Fort, so that you can change your destiny where we changed Napoleon's.
All three versions — paper, PDF and online — will soon be available. We hope you enjoy our issue 10 as much as we enjoyed making it for you.
With text by Ricardo Henriques and illustrations by André Letria, ‘Jean, John and João’ adds a welcome artistic and creative irreverence to the fortunately prolific literature on the subject of the Peninsular War. The historical component and didactic ambition are notable, but there is something else that makes this work stand out. Two centuries on, the authors reflect—one by writing, the other by drawing—on what happened and wonder if it couldn’t have happened differently. They were perhaps somewhat surprised by what they also learnt in the process. And we’re the winners, because the result of their restlessness could hardly have been more successful.
In their final reflection, for which they enlisted the help of none other than the hero Hercules, a 'specialist in impossible tasks', it is suggested that one of the advantages of the Allied victory was that they managed to delay the opening of croissant shops in the country by two centuries. An interesting comparison is also made between the merits of the aristocratic Beef Wellington and those of the modest chanfana. A few paragraphs earlier, attention was drawn to the absurd human losses caused by the conflict. The humour never detracts from the issues that the book, rather than trying to resolve, has the merit of raising.
‘Jean, John and João’ was backed by the Historical Route of the Lines of Torres Vedras and is available for you in most Portuguese bookshops.
Half a century ago, every time you pressed the shutter button on a camera, the film would advance to a new exposure. Once you had written a letter on a sheet of paper, you could only rewrite it by repeating the whole process. Each section of film, each sheet of paper was unique and unrepeatable.
It's easy to do a thousand and one things that were previously impossible in this extraordinary new world - in fact, not so new anymore - described in zeros and ones. We're fans of the first hour and InvadeMAG is here to prove it, but there are things that simply can't (yet) be done with a tablet or PC screen. You can't, for example, hold it up to the light and appreciate - who has never done that? - the transparency of an elegant watermark.
Researcher Maria José Santos, scientific advisor to the Museu do Papel, will be at the Museu de Cerâmica de Sacavém on the 6th July at 3pm to talk about "Watermarks from the Fábrica de Papel do Tojal, in the context of paper filigree in Portugal - 19th and 20th centuries". According to the programme, "The variety and richness of the compositions affixed to the metal meshes of this mill's filigree rollers clearly document the 'personalisation' that characterised the history of watermarks in Portugal".
Don't waste time: bookings must be made at se_ceramica@cm-loures.pt or by calling 211 151 082 by the 4th July.
The gastronomic tourist is increasingly looking for the life experience that accompanies the dish and the glass. Before drinking the wine, he wants to be at the harvest and tread the grapes. He likes to bake his own bread in a communal oven and is more fond of fish that he has caught himself in the sea.
Nuno Nobre, who has more than 25 years' national and international experience in the field, explains to us that the recipe for success in gastronomic tourism is no longer just a nice little corner with a generous kitchen and shows us what to do to seduce the tourist of the future, both in palate and spirit.
Watch the 4th episode of InvadeCAST here (in Portuguese).
We can't say we're surprised: the listeners of ON FM, which operates in the municipality of Torres Vedras, voted for the 2023 edition of the Novas Invasões Festival in the "Cultural Project of the Year" category of the ON Awards. The results of the voting, which took place between 6 and 11 last month, were announced on 29 May, the day the radio station celebrated its 5th anniversary.
Over the three days of the 2023 edition of the Novas Invasões Festival, "53 performances, in around 150 sessions, crossed popular culture with contemporary artistic and creative expression practices". Check out here the gallery of photos we took for you back then.
At nine o'clock in the morning of the 28th of November, the French general came on board the Princepe Real, and was introduced to his Royal Highness. In an arrogant tone, he demanded why his Highness had embarked, and what were his reasons for quitting his kingdom. He expressed his regret for his Royal Highness’s resolution, expatiated at considerable length on the greatness of the French nation, and the honourable sentiments of the Emperor his master towards his Royal Highness, and the kingdom of Portugal; and concluded with observing, that he expected a private, and not a public audience.
During the general's insolent speech, his Royal Highness remained perfectly silent, but afterwards addressed him as follows:
‘Pray, General, have you said all you wish to express?’
(Rear Admiral Sidney Smith, commander of the British expedition that escorted the Portuguese Royal Family to Brazil)
Long gone are the glory years of Super 8, whose beautiful imperfect colours and rhythmically purring projectors warm the hearts of the nostalgics of the Sixties and Seventies. Gone are the days of Video 8, which twenty years later would unleash the exuberant creativity of generations of amateur and independent filmmakers.
Systematically, almost obsessively, they recorded on film and on small cassettes millions of cinematographic experiences, personal memoirs, and unrepeatable holidays - not necessarily in that order.
But while both Super 8, registering the image on film, and Video 8, which used magnetic tape, were revolutionary in the way they democratised the audiovisual, it was with the smartphone and the digital age that moving images truly invaded the street.
Whether you know it or not, the little device in your trouser or jacket pocket is probably capable of capturing - and editing! - video sequences with glorious definition and colours that would make previous generations of amateur filmmakers jealous. The term 'cinematic' has even grown to become an adjective in common use, identifying small digital films subjected to image and sound processing that harks back to the imagery of the Big Screen.
It's not just about recording frames, assembling sequences, and giving them a graphic and sound identity. The ease of sharing also means that distribution, which used to be the last and most difficult barrier to the dissemination of independent productions, is now a problem of the past.
And yet, creatives in all fields know that an abundance of opportunities doesn't always spur action and that a surplus of technical means often creates noise that is detrimental to the artistic process. Sometimes, the existence of limits and the definition of an objective set boundaries that prevent dispersion and favour a focus on the essential.
Making a film.
The 2024/2025 edition of the INVADE! micro-film competition, an initiative of the Historic Route of the Lines of Torres Vedras, provides guidelines in the form of a motto - 'invasions' (in the broad sense of the term, meaning that these can be urban, rural, social, environmental, cultural, spatial, real or imaginary invasions), a time limit - the film must be between 3 and 5 minutes long, and a suggestion - the preferential use of smartphones. By 'preferential' we mean not that other means of recording, such as photographic cameras with video capabilities, are excluded, but only that this will not be an evaluation factor.
Our aim is to reward originality, creativity, and the quality of the cinematographic language, ensuring that everyone, without exception, has the necessary means to participate on a minimum level of equality.
Access the rules for participation and the entry form here (in Portuguese). It's time to wake up the Buñuel or Coppola in you.
Popular wisdom assures us that 'happiness shared is happiness doubled' and that our days are brighter when we share something. Many philosophers were of the same opinion. Erasmus of Rotterdam, like Seneca many centuries before him, believed that there is no joy in possession without sharing.
We, who revere popular wisdom as much as we do the wisdom of philosophers, tend to agree. That's why, from now on, all you have to do is click on the corresponding icon to share one of the events in the Napoleonic Itineraries Agenda on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Check out the Napoleonic Itineraries Agenda here (in Portuguese only for now - we're working on it). And by all means, do share.
We are fervent supporters of digital publications and their many advantages: ease of publishing and dissemination, accessibility, speed, and universality of access.
We are enthusiastic advocates of printed publications and their many qualities: tactile experience, credibility and trust, absence of distractions, tradition and inclusion, aesthetic and collection value.
If a digital edition can be read anywhere using a device that fits in your pocket, a printed publication represents a conscious act of personal involvement.
If technological evolution is now turning into reality what a few years ago would have been science fiction, print publishing brings with it the credibility and trust of a traditional, reliable and long-lasting process.
If online information eliminates the gap between what happens and what is known, paper publishing tries to guarantee that what is known actually happened.
If digital media offer variety and freedom of choice in how we perceive and visualise information, the invariability of print ensures that the images and the shape of the words we see are the ones the authors imagined.
Finally, if all the world's archives now fit in an electronic box, nothing replaces the pleasure of collecting and looking at a physical object that ages with us.
For all of the above reasons, we perceive the graphic update of INVADE magazine as our small Renaissance.
What changes is not the intention, the will and the commitment - these are, in the digital version as in the printed version, the same as ever.
What changes is the way we show ourselves to the world.
We believe that when you first open issue 10 of INVADE, you will like what you see.
Windmills have always been, and continue to be, one of the most beloved icons of the Oeste landscape. Crowning the hills to the north of the capital, many suffered destruction under the scorched earth policy decreed by Wellington during the 3rd French Invasion. In addition to crops and livestock, all tools and structures that could produce food or provide transport, both by land and by water, were destroyed or rendered useless. In the ranks of the invading army there were people from all trades and professions. Operating a mill, producing flour and baking bread were not unfamiliar activities for the French soldiers.
Even though the mills of the Oeste are no longer fundamental to the production and supply of flour to the population, they are still cherished by the local people and esteemed by those who visit the region. One of these mills, known as Moinho do Sobral, is kept in full working order and operated by Mr Joaquim Lopes, who was born and raised in a family of millers. On interpretive tours organised by the municipality of Sobral de Monte Agraço, he explains, with an enthusiasm that betrays his love of the craft, how a mill works and how the grain is ground.
Check the details here (in Portuguese).
And since you're in Sobral, why not learn - or, as the case may be, remember - how people lived and what their customs were half a century ago? Led by Bruno Batista and part of the programme celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 'Carnation Revolution', this initiative takes you on a visit to the past along the trails of the surprising Alqueidão Circuit.
Until the 17th of this month, sign up for "Tell me what life was like 50 years ago". More information here (in Portuguese).
Freed from their defence functions and receiving permanent care, the forts of the Lines of Torres Vedras not only blended beautifully into the diverse landscapes of the Oeste region, but became part of the ecosystems themselves.
When we talk about the victims of the Peninsular War, we think first and foremost of human beings, both civilian and military. Perhaps we remember the many animals that directly or indirectly suffered the consequences of the conflict. We rarely consider the violence to which ecosystems - a word that originates from the Greek word for "house" - were subjected.
The effectiveness of a fort did not depend solely on the excellence of its design and the quality of its construction. The surrounding trees had to be cut down to a great extent, not only to prevent the enemy from approaching under cover of vegetation, but also to be used for auxiliary structures such as palisades and abatis - sets of trees felled, thinned and with their branches facing the enemy soldiers, making it impossible for them to advance.
Some time ago, we told you about the peaceful armies of wild flowers that settle in the forts when Spring arrives. Today we want to tell you about another army that goes into action when the forts are asleep: the army of nocturnal insects.
In the early evening of 30 June, at the Ajuda Grande and Ajuda Pequeno forts in Bucelas, a determined group of nature lovers will set off on an exciting expedition to observe and identify insects, using "light traps" to attract the protagonists of the night and taking great care not to harm the ecosystem.
Don't miss the chance to join this unusual expedition. See all the information in the Napoleonic Itineraries Agenda (in Portuguese).
Next Saturday, the 11th, at 4pm, the book Jean, John and João, which was endorsed by the Historic Route of the Lines of Torres Vedras, will be launched at the A Vida Portuguesa shop in Intendente, Lisbon, and everyone is counting on you. Here's the announcement of the event:
"A Frenchman, an Englishman, and a Portuguese are set to invade A Vida Portuguesa do Intendente to present Pato Lógico's new book.
The unmissable event will take place on Saturday 11 May, with the presence of authors Ricardo Henriques and André Letria, who meet again in this new book - after the 'activity dictionaries' Mar and Teatro - to tell us a story with unequal doses of resistance, courage, chanfana and scorched earth, which looks through new monocles at one of the most remarkable moments in our recent past.
In this semi-fictional account of the Third French Invasion of Portugal and the Lines of Torres Vedras - the largest, cheapest and most effective defence system in Europe - Jean is an aide-de-camp under Marshal Masséna, John is a sailor under General Wellesley, and João is a caçador (rifleman) in the Anglo-Portuguese army. They have been caught up in a whirlwind of events generated by Napoleon's conquering drive and find themselves in a country devastated by a war that will leave deep scars and recipes for posterity.
The theatre of war is located in the hills and valleys north of Lisbon where, between 1809 and 1810, 152 fortresses were built in total secrecy along 85 km, divided into 3 lines of defence that today symbolise Portuguese perseverance and determination that contributed to the beginning of the end of little Bonaparte's megalomania."
For the ancient Greeks, Memory - personified in the Titanid Mnemosyne - was the daughter of Heaven and Earth. One tradition tells us that it was she who gave things their names so that we could understand each other. It's not easy to talk about something whose name we don't remember.
Mnemosyne had nine daughters by Zeus, the Muses, to whom we turn when we seek inspiration in one of the areas they oversee. It's not only about artistic inspiration. Clio, whose favours the historians and archaeologists on the Historic Route often call upon, is the Muse of History.
The Museion, or Museum, is the house where the Muses dwell. When we go to a museum, we do so to revisit our collective memory, increase the scope of our knowledge and gain inspiration for the creative experiences we indulge in.
Every year, on 18 May, we join most of the world in celebrating International Museum Day. The theme of the 2024 edition, "Museums, Education and Research", aims to emphasise the fundamental role that cultural institutions play in providing a complete educational experience.
Every step taken in a museum translates into many leagues in the world. Meet us on 18 May at the House of the Muses, visiting one of the museums and interpretation centres in the municipalities of the Historic Route of the Lines of Torres Vedras.
12 is sometimes considered a number of perfection and of closing cycles (there are 12 months in a year, 12 Olympian gods, 12 constellations). Perhaps that's why the number that follows it, 13, feels like a card out of the deck - even though in a pack of cards there are 13 of each suit. In India, you might be told that 13 is a number of justice, beneficial to those who have lived a good life. And in Portugal, who's to say that getting a 13 in the Totobola is really bad luck?
13 is the number of Portuguese municipalities with a history marked by the events of the Napoleonic era that are part of the Napoleonic Itineraries, a tourism innovation programme led by the Coimbra Region Intermunicipal Community and endorsed by Turismo de Portugal.
The Napoleonic Itineraries have just launched a promotional video highlighting 13 of the many facets of an itinerary that is fascinating in its landscape, rich in history and culturally diverse. You can watch it here.
Fortune has to be sought. Visit one of the 13 municipalities on the Napoleonic Itineraries - and if it's on a Friday, so much the better: after all, the day that heralds the weekend can only be of good omen.
There are glasses to see up close, glasses to see far away and glasses to augment reality. From 18 to 21 April, the municipalities that make up the Napoleonic Itineraries* are going to commemorate International Day of Monuments and Sites, which is celebrated on the 18th, with Open Days, in which you'll be able to use Virtual and Augmented Reality goggles to take a leap into the past and witness some of the key events of the Peninsular War on Portuguese territory.
Set your watch, put on our goggles and travel back in time. Consult the Agenda here.
The consternation and anxiety which were evinced by the inhabitants of Lisbon, as soon as a rumour of the intended departure of the Prince got abroad, beggar all attempt at description. Devotedly attached both by nature and habit to the persons of their sovereigns, the lower orders beheld, in the proposed emigration, a certain prelude to national ruin and individual misery (…) Nor was this the only circumstance which tended to excite general alarm, independently of the impending approach of the French troops. As if he had come thither by appointment, Junot's army had hardly crossed the frontier, when the Russian admiral Siniavin entered the Tagus, with nine ships of the line and two frigates. Such a coincidence could not fail deeply to affect men already agitated by a thousand fears and doubts; for though his arrival was purely accidental, it appeared to the ill-fated Portuguese that a plan of cooperation between the French General and the Russian Admiral had been laid; and that the latter had come, at this critical juncture, to assist in the subjugation of the kingdom.
(Charles William Vane, Story of the Peninsular War)
Because we're not in the business of deceiving anyone, we won't tell you that we've launched our Napoleonic Itineraries Agenda today. That would be entirely false.
It would also be to drive a spear through the already martyred breast of Truth to add that this Agenda - which doesn't exist, mind you - contains information about the events and initiatives that will take place in the municipalities crossed by this great common trail of ours, so that you and your family can choose the ones that resonate most with you.
We are people of integrity. It won't be because a mob of irresponsible individuals are going to indulge in the questionable pleasure of deceiving their neighbours today that we will give up the principles of sobriety, attachment to the Truth and institutional dignity that have always been our hallmark.
These are our principles. If you don't like them - as the Nobel laureate Groucho Marx once said - we have others.
Oh, and don't forget not to consult the Agenda here.
