Dancing in the Lines: including to unite

The heritage of the Lines of Torres Vedras is also experienced through contemporary and accessible cultural practices.

On 17 October 2025, as part of the celebrations marking the National Day of the Lines of Torres Vedras, the South Cloister of the Mafra Royal Edifice hosted the performance Linhas que unem (Lines That Unite), promoted by the Municipality of Mafra.

Staged in one of the town’s most emblematic settings, the performance brought together monumental heritage and contemporary creation. Conceived as an inclusive performance, Linhas que unem featured dancers with and without disabilities, exploring movement as a universal language — capable of conveying emotions, stories and human bonds beyond words.

On stage were the Companhia de Dança Susana Galvão Teles and Crevide – Casa da Rita, in a creation that placed bodily diversity at the heart of the artistic experience. Far from being a secondary element, this diversity expanded the language of dance, introducing new possibilities of movement and interpretation.

More than a performance, Linhas que unem emerged as a moment of encounter: between past and present, between heritage and artistic creation, between performers and audience. Within a space steeped in history, dance became a vehicle for inclusion, empathy and shared experience, underlining that the heritage of the Lines of Torres Vedras is also lived through contemporary, accessible cultural practices. 

Fancy a stroll around the Centre?

Our Thematic Notebooks are an atlas of ideas in the making.

The bilingual Thematic Notebooks collection was born on paper — and this is no minor detail. Conceived by the Historical Route of the Lines of Torres Vedras as a visually appealing editorial series to be enjoyed over time, the collection seeks to give shape to a territory that is not limited to maps, lists of forts or military chronologies. The first volume, Centre, inaugurates this path.

The Lines of Torres Vedras are more than an open-air museum of strongholds and fortifications. They are an entire territory, with its own personality, where hills, valleys, rivers, quintas, villages and towns fit together like pieces of a great historical puzzle. The Thematic Notebooks start from this idea: looking at the territory not as an inventory, but as a set of possible meanings. Not administrative categories, but ways of seeing.

Centre delves into the spaces where collective life pulsates: squares, churches, markets, plazas shaded by plane trees, street corners where memory leans against everyday life. There is no single centre in the Lines of Torres Vedras, but a constellation of them, interconnected, each with its own rhythm, all composing a region that is recognised by the sum of its parts.

The Centre volume is available in print, designed as a stand-alone publication. For those who prefer the digital format, a PDF version is accessible via the invademag.pt bilingual portal of the Historical Route of the Lines of Torres Vedras.

This is only the first of many notebooks. The journey begins here — on paper — and will continue, concept by concept, place by place. 

Thinking the Napoleonic Itineraries

'Step out of your Fort' was the motto for the 1st Meeting.

On 20 and 21 November 2025, we stepped out of our forts for the 1st Meeting of Napoleonic Itineraries Portugal, in Vila Franca de Xira. Experts and partners linked to heritage and cultural tourism joined forces with various public entities to reflect on the territory and its shared memory.

The first day took place at the elegant Quinta Municipal do Sobralinho and was dedicated to strategic reflection on the Napoleonic Routes as a network cooperation project.

The second day took the participants into the territory, on a journey that combined heritage, landscape and experiences. Visits to emblematic sites on the Napoleonic Itineraries were complemented by moments of cultural and gastronomic enjoyment, notably the period lunch at the Moinho do Paúl restaurant.

This first meeting established itself as a starting point for a new phase of joint work, reinforcing the ambition to consolidate the Napoleonic Itineraries Portugal as a structured, participatory project with a clear future projection. 

ECTN Awards

The Historical Route of the Lines of Torres Vedras won first prize at the ECTN Awards 2025, held in Sibiu, in the category Digitalisation in Smart Tourism: Cultural Heritage and Creativity Aspects, Enhancing Visitor Experiences. The award was received in Romania by the RHLT’s Vice-President, Ana Umbelino.

The ECTN Awards recognise European destinations that combine creativity and technology to make heritage experiences smarter, more engaging and more accessible. The winning project, Time travel was once the stuff of science fiction, invites visitors to relive episodes from the First and Third French Invasions of Portugal through Virtual and Augmented Reality. Across the municipalities of the Historical Route of the Lines of Torres Vedras, it is now possible to step into history, witness battles and explore command posts and strategic sites as if you were really there — with no need to step in on the right foot, since the risk is nil. Virtually.