New Museum in Campo Maior

Friday, 13 November 2009 20:35

The new Aberto Museum in the Alentejo's de Campo Maior is now open in the Casa do Assento complex, offering a look mat the tradition and history of the village. It is open Tuesday to Sunday and is free to all. The town's name comes from the Roman period (when it was known as Campus Maior), although the later period of Muslim period is clearly visible in the whitewashed houses, with their borders and their window and doorframes painted in either blue or ochre. Originally, the town belonged to the diocese of Badajoz and it was only much later, when the Treaty of Alcanizes was signed between Spain and Portugal in 1297 that the town became Portuguese territory. One of the most interesting historical features in Campo Maior is the Ossuary Chapel, built in 1766 and one of the only three chapels of its kind in Portugal. The town's population is famous for their determined character. At that particular point in the year when everybody's wishes coincide, one of the most interesting popular festivals in the whole of Portugal is held here - the Festa das Flores (Flower Festival), also known as the Festa do Povo (Festival of the People). This is a time when the residents of each street join together to decorate their neighborhood with paper flowers arranged in joyful and brightly-colored compositions (normally this festival is held in the first week in September). Thousands of people come to see the town decorated in huge masses of colored paper.