The Lines of Torres Vedras are one of Portugal’s most remarkable testaments to resistance and strategic ingenuity. More than two centuries after the Napoleonic invasions, this heritage continues to bring together history, landscape and identity. Bombarral is a case in point: a municipality shaped by the first battle of the Peninsular War — the Battle of Roliça — whose memory is proudly preserved at the Battle of Roliça Interpretation Centre.
But this legacy does not stand alone. It is part of a broader narrative — that of the Napoleonic Itineraries Portugal — connecting our territory to a European network of shared memory.
The Historical Route of the Lines of Torres has played an essential role in promoting this heritage and bringing it to wider audiences: through its forts, interpretation centres and historic trails, in schools, and on the international tourism stage.
Invade embraces that commitment to sharing and raising awareness: to provide a meeting place for specialists, institutions, communities and all those who recognise in this legacy something fundamental to understanding the past and building the future.
More than remembering battles, what matters is understanding the social and territorial impact left by the invasions and by the extraordinary defensive response that made the region a European landmark in military strategy.
Each issue of Invade opens new paths between memory and landscape, inviting us to look afresh at a territory where history remains alive.
The past echoes through every place. It is up to us to keep walking its paths.