Confraria do Bom Jesus promoted a visit yesterday to the various interventions of the project “Bom Jesus: Requalificar II”, during which it was possible to appreciate an unprecedented view of the city Braga from one of the bell tower of the basilica.

The space will open to public visitation on June 30, the date of completion of the requalification works of the minhoto sanctuary, which intends to integrate the list of World Heritage of UNESCO.

The Primate Archbishop, Jorge Ortiga, the Mayor of Braga, Ricardo Rio, and the regional director of North Culture, António Ponte, participated in the initiative led by the vice-president of the Confraria, Varico Pereira.

«The purpose of this visit was to call on the entities involved in the requalification of Bom Jesus to see the works carried out “in loco” and to verify that the work, time and money invested are being well used», explained the person in charge.

Under the “Bom Jesus: Requalificar II”, interventions were carried out inside and outside of 6 chapels; in the Five Senses Stairs along the forest; inside the Basilica; in two coretos; and in the Memory Center, which will house the entire estate of the sacristan, which was intervened in the first phase.

«We had an initial budget of 2.4 million euros, but with the public tenders we have been able to reduce to about 1.8 million, the real cost of this intervention,» said Varico Pereira, who wishes that «by the end of June there will be news» regarding the inclusion of the sanctuary of Braga in the list of World Heritage of UNESCO.

The Bom Jesus: Requalificar II project was co-financed by Norte 2020, within the framework of the European Union’s structural funds, through Portugal 2020.

 

 

«Bom Jesus is active and unique»
The mayor of Braga was «satisfied» with the progress of the requalification.

«It stands out to all present users of Bom Jesus, all these dimensions that the sanctuary offers, the improvements that were promoted by the Confraria that benefit our entire community and value above all this patrimony that is unique», said Ricardo Rio to the journalists who accompanied the visit yesterday.

The autarch hopes, therefore, that«[the sanctuary] will soon qualify as a World Heritage Site»
Also «it is very important that public entities, namely the Managing Authority of  Norte 2020, recognize the efforts being made [in Bom Jesus] and support these projects with funding, which will further qualify a single resource and that Braga has to continue to promote and value».
«The work that is being carried out in Bom Jesus is of great quality both in the religious dimension and in the landscape», he praised.

 

Report heritage
«The Northern Regional Directorate of Culture (DRCN) has been accompanying the intervention [in Bom Jesus] helping to find solutions, as these conservation and restoration processes end up having a set of surprises in the course of the intervention that requires immediate responses»,said the DRCN president, whose technical teams have been following the work in progress.
This monitoring takes into account «the need for decision making at all times to understand what type and level of intervention, which layers of history must be preserved,» said Antonio Ponte, who underlined another dimension of DRCN’s technical work.
For the person in charge, it also «communicate, transmit, explain and mediate the patrimony, so that it is more apprehended by the people that visit this space».

 

Diário do Minho
Photo: António Silva