This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks The previous apple season in Portugal was marked by hot weather senior manager of Portuguese apple grower and exporter Campotec: "We mainly produce Alcobaça apples (Maçã de Alcobaça IGP) and organic apples in our own orchards and in the orchards of our associates the apple production was affected by extreme hot temperatures in July and August which is the most popular variety of Alcobaça apples The total production decreased by about 10 per cent after a drop of approximately 30 per cent in the previous season." people are going for more healthy lifestyles which in turn leads to good demand for healthy products as apples "The demand for apples was rather stable in the local market during the last season The overall fruit sector is being pushed up thanks to healthy food trends and apples rank among the most popular fruits for consumers apples face increasing competition from other fruits The apples from Alcobaça IGP are recognized for its quality and excellence by the consumers and our focus on innovation represents a considerable part of our efforts to differentiate our apples." the market in Brazil is both familiar and important for their exports Reis explains: "Campotec holds production sites in the Brazilian southern region of Santa Catarina The local presence and the knowledge of the local market and local players and makes Brazil the core market for our exports." There were multiple challenges to overcome for Campotec last year but this hasn't stopped them from investing further in a more sustainable strategy "The major challenge is always to provide a differentiated apple at a competitive price and be committed to quality since this is the way to preserve value in the long run The main challenges were at a technical level increasing restrictions and increasing costs impact the overall yield of the orchards Campotec is currently investing in the concept of Eco-Orchard promoting sustainability as the way to achieve biodiversity and equilibrate the orchards in the long run This has been a driver of our investment strategy." production should be higher than it was last year: "We foresee the harvesting to start in early August for Galas The blooming period was exceptionally long this year We expect production to revert last year's trend and an increase in the production is expected but still short from the last decade's average we still face climate challenges for the next month hot temperatures can still jeopardize the estimated production level we foresee an increase in the external demand where the production has fallen around 50% this last season," Reis concludes For more information:Manuel ReisCampotecTel: +351 968517222Email: [email protected] www.campotec.pt FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com The World Heritage Centre is at the forefront of the international community’s efforts to protect and preserve World Heritage partnerships for conservation Ensuring that World Heritage sites sustain their outstanding universal value is an increasingly challenging mission in today’s complex world where sites are vulnerable to the effects of uncontrolled urban development Our Partners Donate Take advantage of the search to browse through the World Heritage Centre information. The Monastery of Santa Maria d'Alcobaça, north of Lisbon, was founded in the 12th century by King Alfonso I. Its size, the purity of its architectural style, the beauty of the materials and the care with which it was built make this a masterpiece of Cistercian Gothic art. L'abbaye de Santa Maria d'Alcobaça, au nord de Lisbonne, fut fondée au XIIe siècle par le roi Alphonse Ier. Par l'ampleur de ses dimensions, la clarté du parti architectural, la beauté du matériau et le soin apporté à l'exécution, elle est un chef-d'œuvre de l'art gothique cistercien. تم تشييد دير سانتا ماريا في ألكوباسا شمال لشبونة في القرن الثاني عشر على يد الملك ألفونس الاول، وهو يشكل تحفة من الفن القوطي السسترسي بضخامة حجمه ووضوح هندسته وجمالية المواد المستعملة في بنائه والعناية المتوخاة في تنفيذه. 位于里斯本北部的圣玛利亚－阿尔科巴萨修道院建于公元12世纪阿方索一世统治时期。阿尔科巴萨修道院建筑风格统一，建筑材料考究，建筑技巧卓越，这一切都使其成为西多会哥特风格艺术的杰作。 Монастырь Богоматери в Алкобасе, к северу от Лиссабона, был основан в XII в. королем Альфонсом I. Его размеры, выдержанность архитектурного стиля, красота материалов, а также то старание, с которым он был построен, делают его шедевром цистерцианского готического искусства. Situada al norte de Lisboa, la abadía de Santa María de Alcobaça fue fundada en el siglo XII por el rey Alfonso I. Sus dimensiones, la pureza de su estilo arquitectónico, la belleza de los materiales empleados en su construcción y el esmero con que ésta se llevó a cabo han hecho de este monasterio una obra maestra del arte gótico cisterciense. The founding of the Monastery of Alcobaça, located in central Portugal, is closely associated with the beginning of the Portuguese monarchy. When Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King Alfonso I in 1139, he based his political reconquest on the Crusaders and on religious orders. Alcobaça was given to the Cistercians in recognition of their support to the conquest of Santarem (1152) with the understanding that they would colonise and work the surrounding lands. In the 13th century, while the monastery church, laid out similarly to Pontigny Abbey in Burgundy (France), and the magnificent monastic buildings were under construction, the monastery's intellectual and political influence had already spread throughout the western part of the Iberian Peninsula. It was a centre of study and religious doctrine - the kingdom's most important monastic school was located within its premises - and it accommodated a wealthy congregation. In this monumental complex, the Manueline sacristy of Infante Dom Afonso, appointed abbot of Alcobaça in 1505, the upper cloister of João de Castilho, the façade and main part of the baroque lodgings of Friar João Turriano (1702), and the King's Room are particularly noteworthy. Criterion (iv): The Monastery of Alcobaça is an example of a great Cistercian establishment with a unique infrastructure of hydraulic systems and functional buildings. Deservedly renowned, the 18th-century kitchen adds to the interest of the group of monastic buildings from the medieval period (cloister and lavabo, chapter house, parlor, dormitory, the monks' room and the refectory). The Monastery of Alcobaça has been properly conserved and contains all the necessary elements to convey its Outstanding Universal Value. No major changes have occurred that could affect the property’s integrity. The changes that have been made to the Monastery of Alcobaça mainly concern the following: restoration of the 18th-century granary; electrical and audio installations; restoration of terra cotta and wood sculptures from the Baroque period; repair works to avoid infiltrations into the monument and the construction of the Saint Bernard exhibition gallery. Similarly, Decree no. 309 of 23 October 2009 equates buffer zones with special protection zones, which benefit from adequate restrictions for the protection and enhancement of cultural properties. One of the key goals of the property’s management is to preserve the attributes that justified its inscription on the World Heritage List, as well as maintain the conditions of authenticity and integrity of the whole monumental complex. This is achieved through the development of a work plan involving the local community in decision-making and implementation. All the interventions that have been implemented or are programmed comply with current legislation, as well as with strict technical and scientific criteria. Attention is given to the treatment and rehabilitation of the area surrounding the monument, as these works are to be ensured by local organisations involving both the municipality and the local community. The management of the Monastery of Alcobaça is ensured by the decentralised services of the Directorate General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC), the national administration department responsible for cultural heritage. Conservation, enhancement and safeguarding measures are ensured by DGPC, which is also responsible for drawing up an annual programme and implementing it so as to ensure the adequate conservation and protection of the property. Volume 1 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fhort.2022.1024042 Tomato is one of the most important vegetable crops cultivated and consumed worldwide Demand is increasing daily because of increase in per capita fresh fruit consumption it has relatively short shelf-life after ripening and experiences remarkable post-harvest losses This study was aimed at using marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) to transfer shelf-life gene (alc) into the genetic background of two elite Ghanaian tomato breeding lines The MABC derived lines at BC2F3 were evaluated to confirm selections using molecular markers All the MABC-derived lines gave significant extended shelf life compared to the checks except for Alc-LA3134 not significantly different from one of the backcrosses (BC2F2.3-E-80-19-26) This confirms that the genetic regulation of the shelf-life trait is dependent on the alc gene The performance of the donor check (Alc-LA3134) against the 12 MABC-derived lines indicated no significant differences for the fruit firmness (except for BC2F2.3-E-80-19-4) number of locules per fruit and shelf life (for only BC2F2.3-E-80-19-26) thus suggesting similar backgrounds of the MABC as the recurrent parents A considerable increase in the shelf-life value was observed among the MABC-derived lines The introgression of the alc gene into cultivated tomatoes for extended shelf-life could reduce post-harvest losses of tomato in Ghana time consuming and requires societal acceptance genetic enhancement of the most important fruit quality characteristics appears to be the best choice available The experiment was conducted during the period from August 2017 to December 2018 in the greenhouse of CSIR-Crops Research Institute This study involved using two elite Ghanaian tomato breeding lines as recurrent parents for incorporation of long shelf-life gene derived from tomato mutant alcobaca (Alc-LA3134) as a donor parent. The two recurrent parents used were CSIR/CRI-P002 and CSIR/CRI-ATS06; these are breeding lines from the CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana. They are popular open-pollinated tomato varieties and were developed through pure line selection method (Osei et al., 2015) The CSIR/CRI-P002 and CSIR/CRI-ATS06 varieties have semi-determinate plant growth with regular and horizontal leaf type and attitude The fruit shape of CSIR/CRI-P002 is typically bell shaped with exterior green immature and red mature fruit colours CSIR/CRI-ATS06 has a rounded shape with light green colour for immature fruit and red colour for mature fruit The varieties can be planted throughout the year with average yield of 20 tons/ha These varieties are desirable to tomato farmers because of their relative high yield is a ripening gene mutant of Solanum lycopersicum obtained from Tomato Genetic Resource Center (TGRC) The gene ‘alc’ from the locus name alcobaca greatly delays fruit ripening processes and is noted for prolonging the shelf-life of tomatoes The donor is also characterized by determinate plant growth habit and rounded fruit shape with big fruit size but lacks important farmer-preferred horticultural traits Each of the recurrent parents, CSIR/CRI-P002 and CSIR/CRI-ATS06, was crossed with the donor parent LA3134 (alc) (Figure 1) during the major season of June 2017 at CSIR-Crops Research Institute The F1 seeds were later grown and tested for hybridity using SNP markers from Ag-Biotech This was done at the early stages of plant growth to detect the presence of the marker allele and eliminate false hybrids Figure 1 Scheme of F1 development between two elite CSIR/CRI tomato breeding lines and alc (Donor) line (LA3134) The true F1 plants were then crossed back to the recurrent parents (CSIR/CRI-P002 and CSIR/CRI-ATS06) during the minor season of August 2017 to produce 88 and 86 BC1F1 plants respectively (The F1 plants were used as females while the recurrent parents were males) (Figure 2) Individual plants of the BC1F1 population were screened for the marker (alc) at early growth stages in April 2018 Plants that carried the desired marker allele and had the most SNPs from the recurrent parent were crossed back to the recurrent parents to create BC2F1 populations in July 2018 the final backcrossing population ended at BC2F1 Individual plants of the BC2F1 population (88 plants) were likewise screened with the SNP marker for the target trait (alc) and 19 other polymorphic SNP markers Plants with the alc SNP marker and the most SNP markers for the recurrent parent were then selfed and harvested to produce BC2F2 generations Progenies of this backcross-selfing (BC2F2) were screened in December 2018 to detect the markers and the seeds were harvested from individuals carrying the homozygous donor parent marker alleles of the target trait in March 2019 Fresh leaf tissues were harvested from individual plants from selected backcross populations (BC1 & BC2 generations) including selfed individuals from BC2 population of the final generation developed from CSIR/CRI-P002 and CSIR/CRI-ATS06 tomato breeding lines Each recurrent parent (CSIR/CRI-P002; CSIR/CRI-ATS06) comprised of 86 88 and 86 plants of backcross populations for BC1F1 These were placed in known positions of 96-deep-well plate and shipped to Ag-Biotech Leaf samples of parents were also included in each plate as controls Twenty-two SNPs that were polymorphic in the original 140 SNPs were used to test these BC1 plants Figure 2 Scheme of backcross population development between two elite Ghanaian breeding lines and donor line with alc gene. Source modified from Babu et al. (2005) the F1s were tested for hybridity for the introduced gene using the foreground marker This was to validate that the selected plants carried the target gene were used for further backcrossing and for the final selfing The backcross populations were genotyped using SNP marker Sly10-14 for foreground selection to detect heterozygous plants in these populations the foreground marker was used for selecting homozygous plants that carried the marker allele from the donor parent The progeny with the greatest proportion of recurrent parent genome (RPG) SNP markers and the alc SNP were selected The seeds from the homozygous BC2F2 for the donor parent marker alleles were evaluated on field in June 2019 to validate the shelf life (alc) gene Sixteen tomato genotypes comprising three parents and 12 BC2F2.3 lines selected based on the SNP markers and one farmers’ variety as check (popular local variety) were used for field evaluation The experiment was conducted at Wenchi (Latitude =07044’53.2” N; Longitude = 002004’25.4” W) in the Transition agro-ecological zone of Ghana The tomato seeds were nursed and transplanted in June 2019 for planting Wenchi has bimodal rainfall pattern but gave irregular rains from June 2019 to September 2019 during the period this experiment was conducted The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications Each experimental unit consisted of two rows of 24 plants at 60 cm x 50 cm inter and intra row distances respectively The experiment was conducted under a rain-fed condition with supplemental drip irrigation Standard agronomic and plant protection measures were adopted to grow a healthy crop Data collected include days to 50% flowering total soluble solids (TSS) and shelf-life (days) The Recurrent Parent Genome (RPG) recovery was calculated according to Van (2008) and Douglas Maxell (personal communication Data from the field evaluation were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using R statistical software version 3.6 and mean separation using LSD at p<0.05 Nineteen (19) SNP markers revealed polymorphism between CSIR/CRI-ATS06 and Alc-LA3134 whereas seven SNPs were polymorphic between CSIR/CRI-P002 and Alc-LA3134 (Tables 1 and 2) These SNP markers were employed for the confirmation and selection during the introgression programme Table 1 Parental polymorphism survey between CSIR/CRI-ATS06 (recipient) and Alc-LA3134 (donor) Table 2 Parental polymorphism survey between CSIR/CRI-P002 (recipient) and Alc-LA3134 (donor) Nineteen polymorphic SNPs were identified for the cross, CSIR/CRI-P002 x Alc-LA3134 and 18 polymorphic SNPs displayed successful F1s. For the cross, CSIR/CRI-ATS06 x Alc LA3134, 22 SNPs were polymorphic and 20 SNPs indicated successful F1’s. Of the 88 and 86 backcross individuals (BC1F1) produced from CSIR/CRI-ATS06 x Alc-LA3134 and CSIR/CRI-P002 x Alc-LA3134, only 23 and 39 plants were positive for the alc gene in the backcross populations, respectively (Table 3) Of the 23 BC1F1 individuals from CSIR/CRI-ATS06 that were positive for the alc gene six plants produced SNP score of more than 30 with the highest SNP score of 34 in BC line (E1 x E)-79 39 BC1F1 individuals were positive for the alc gene The highest SNP score was 10 and was associated with seven plants Table 3 List of BC1F1 and BC2F1 produced and the number of true F1 at each generation positive for the alc gene Of the 86 BC2F2 plants representing CSIR/CRI-ATS06 BC population for plant numbers E-80-19 and E-22-27, only 15 and 22 plants were identified as homozygous for the alc gene, respectively (Table 4). Likewise, in the CSIR/CRI-P002 BC population, out of the 86 BC2F2 plants generated from BC2F1 (plant numbers A-80-70 and A-13-39), 19 plants from each population were identified to be homozygous for the alc gene (Table 4) Table 4 List of BC2F1 lines selected for selfing There were significant differences among the parents and MABC-derived lines for all the studied characters (Table 5) Table 5 Mean squares of studied traits in parents and MABC derived lines The field performance of the four checks (local, CSIR/CRI-P002, CSIR/CRI-ATS06, Alc-LA3134) against the 12 MABC-derived hybrids are presented in Table 6 a subset of six hybrids of the BC2F2.3-A lines were not significantly different from CSIR/CRI-P002 (parent check) for days to 50% flowering all six of the MABC-derived hybrids of BC2F2.3-E lines were not significantly different from the parent check (CSIR/CRI-ATS06) for the 50% flowering it is clear that the Alc-LA3134 (donor check) was significantly different from MABC-derived lines for days to 50% flowering not significantly different from only the BC2F2.3-E lines Field performance of the donor check (Alc-LA3134) against the 12 MABC derived lines indicated no significant differences for the fruit firmness there was significant differences between the 12 MABC derived lines and the other parent checks (CSIR/CRI-P002 CSIR/CRI-ATS06) including the local check for the fruit quality and the shelf-life traits lines were also significant differences for fruit quality and shelf -life traits Table 6 Mean performance of parents and MABC derived lines of BC2F2.3 The selected polymorphic SNP markers distinguished the parents and consequently justified the choice of the markers for selection of the generated populations these SNP markers could be used to select for the recurrent parent Based on Chi-square analysis to validate the alc gene on F2 generation data the segregation ratio obtained from the cross was in good agreement with the theoretical ratio of 1:2:1 given that Sly10-14-SNP used in the present studies was a functional marker for shelf-life trait that has been validated (Osei et and this could be because background screening was not done in the early backcross generations The background selection is paramount in eliminating such deleterious genome regions of the donor parents that may negatively affect the final product This is extremely useful because the recurrent parent recovery can be greatly accelerated Traditional backcrossing takes a minimum of six backcross generations to recover the genome of the recurrent parent with some fragments of the donor genome still lingering on the genome of the recurrent parent can be achieved at the BC2 with background selection thus shortening the process by two of the four backcross generations when markers are employed for background selection the phenotype recovery of the recurrent parent was achieved at BC2 The MABC approach in the present study has clearly demonstrated the ability to accelerate the breeding process of high-yielding tomato lines with long shelf-life fruits a considerable increase in shelf life was observed among the selected lines derived we advanced two backcross generations within one year When conventional breeding strategies are applied the advancement of two backcross generations with selection for the long shelf-life character would take two years or more and it might be very difficult to differentiate reliably between individuals heterozygous for more than one of the genomic regions contributing to the trait Identification of homozygous BC2F2 lines is very important because if the selected BC2F2 lines contain one or more of the target genes in heterozygous condition they will segregate in the next generation only homozygous lines with the desirable gene combinations were selected for further advancement and evaluation ensuring homozygosity of the material with respect to shelf life It has been observed that the recovery of plants with alc gene was more frequent and more in number this may be due to the fact that the marker was closely linked to the gene on chromosome 10 The use of gene specific marker Sly10-14 will be of prime importance for the selection and tagging of alc gene associated with shelf life Identification of homozygous plants from the segregating populations is of extreme importance in MAS This helps in the stabilization of the genotypes in shortest possible time Selected F1s were carefully genotyped for presence of the alc gene with the respective linked markers The homozygous F2s carrying the alc gene were selected and backcrossed with the respective recurrent parents The positive BC2F1 of CSIR/CRI-ATS06 and CSIR/CRI-P002 plants were then selected selfed and advanced for further generations for agro-morphological traits Background selection was thus achieved to select the individuals with the genetic background closest to the recipient line in each case it was possible to introgress genomic regions from ripening mutant donor parent Alc-LA3134 into the genetic backgrounds of two elite recurrent parents (CSIR/CRI-ATS06 and CSIR/CRI-P002) over two generations The use of markers allowed rapid recovery of the backgrounds of the CSIR/CRI adapted/improved tomato lines The findings clearly reflect the reduced accuracy of phenotypic selection compared to background selection using markers The field performance of the MABC-derived lines has confirmed that the genetic regulation for shelf-life is dependent on the alc gene The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors MM and DM: provided guideline and edited manuscript All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version The authors thank the staff of Ag-Biotech for their enormous assistance regarding DNA extraction and SNP marker analysis This work was supported by Ag-Biotech Lab. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhort.2022.1024042/full#supplementary-material Effect of different maturity stages on the keeping quality of nor (non-ripening) rin (ripening-inhibitor) and normal type tomatoes Postharvest handling practices and treatment methods for tomato handlers in developing countries: A mini review Two-generation marker aided backcrossing for rapid conversion of normal maize lines to quality protein maize (QPM) Integrative approach for precise genotyping and transcriptomics of salt tolerant introgression rice lines The metabolic shifts underlying tomato fruit development CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Long-term postharvest aroma evolution of tomatoes with the alcobaca (alc) mutation Changes in ripening-related quality traits of long shelf life tomatoes as influenced by water deficit and short-term postharvest storage CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar An integrated physical and genetic map of the rice genome Google Scholar Evaluation of F1 hybrids incorporating nor quality and shelf life of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum mill).” ph thesis (Ludhiana: Punjab Agricultural University) Google Scholar Some biological features of F1 tomato hybrids carrying the nor gene Izvestiya Timiryazevskoi Sel’skhozyaistvennoi Akademii 1 Google Scholar Progress in breeding for salinity tolerance and associated abiotic stresses in rice “Fruit ripening and quality,” in The tomato crop: A scientific basis for improvement Google Scholar Marker-assisted backcrossing: a useful method for rice improvement Marker assisted introgression of quantitative trait loci PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Development of rice introgression lines with brown planthopper resistance and KDML105 grain quality characteristics through marker-assisted selection Characterization of tomato fruit ripening and analysis of gene expression in F1 hybrids of the ripening inhibitor (rin) mutant Kopeliovitch E. Effect of the fruit-ripening mutant genes rin and nor on the flavour of tomato fruit CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Kopeliovitch E. The potential of ripening mutants for extending the storage life of the tomato fruit CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar “SNP markers and their impact on plant breeding,” in Book: The role of bioinformatics in agriculture CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Advances in tomato research in the post- genome era CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Changes in ripening-related processes in tomato conditioned by the alc mutant Development of high yielding and uniform tomato fruits using pure line selection Google Scholar Validation of SNP marker linked to alc gene for long shelf life of tomato Mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to late blight in tomato Marker-assisted selection: new tools and strategies CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Segregation distortion in doubled haploid lines of barley (Hordeum vulgare l.) detected by simple sequence repeat markers An overview of molecular marker methods for plants Google Scholar Seroczynska A. Utilization of three non-ripening mutants in tomato breeding for prolonged shelf life Google Scholar Optimal positioning of markers to control genetic background in marker-assisted backcrossing CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Biochemistry of fruit ripening (London; New York: Chapman & Hall) Google Scholar High-Density SNP Genotyping of 1478 Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) reveals patterns of genetic variation due to breeding Introgression of tomato leaf curl virus (ToLCV) resistant gene into two cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum l.) varieties through marker assisted backcross breeding Google Scholar GGT 2.0: versatile software for visualization and analysis of genetic data CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar MADS-box gene necessary for fruit ripening at the tomato ripening-inhibitor (rin) locus CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing for fruit and vegetable crops: Strategies and prospects CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Phenotypic and molecular characterization of a tomato F2 population segregation for improving shelf life Use of alginate or zein as edible coatings to delay postharvest ripening process and to maintain tomato quality Massoudi M and Maxwell D (2022) Marker assisted backcrossing of alcobaca gene into two elite tomato breeding lines Received: 20 August 2022; Accepted: 25 November 2022;Published: 22 December 2022 Copyright © 2022 Kwabena Osei, Danquah, Adu-Dapaah, Danquah, Blay, Massoudi and Maxwell. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Michael Kwabena Osei, b3JhbmlnaEBnbWFpbC5jb20= Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish Omiri – Ribatejo e Estremadura Vol.II: Abrantes e Alcobaça (Repasseado Omiri presents Ribatejo e Estremadura Vol. II: Abrantes e Alcobaça It exclusively features field recordings from the municipalities of Abrantes and Alcobaça The culmination of over six months of fieldwork in these regions the project delves deep into the local culture The album serves not only as a musical endeavor but also as a documentation of the intangible heritage of Abrantes and Alcobaça instilling a sense of pride among the residents in their cultural identity This marks Omiri’s fourth concept project under the stewardship of Vasco Ribeiro Casais and contemporizes local traditions and identities with nuanced electronic beats and other fascinating innovations Anthropologist Miguel Gomes Costa lauds Omiri’s approach highlighting how the project revives the music ingrained in these regions Gomes Costa writes: “The work of the Omiri project seeks precisely to (re)discover the music that remained and still lives in these territories playing and living music as an act of ludic enjoyment and ritual – and which is capable of reaching the younger generations who receive it with genuine enthusiasm and affection!” he oversees all artistic and technical aspects of the album Buy Ribatejo e Estremadura Vol. II: Abrantes e Alcobaça Please enter an answer in digits:three × five = Even though the weather in Portugal can still be chilly at this time of year, the temperatures are bound to rise as the streets fill with the sounds of music, samba dancers, elaborate costumes, and the iconic caricatures like Cabeçudos and Matrafonas. You don’t need to travel to Rio de Janeiro, Venice, or Tenerife to experience one of the world’s most exciting carnivals—Portugal has much to offer. Read on to discover 5 of the best Carnival destinations in Portugal and get ready to join the fun in 2025! Although Carnival is celebrated nationwide, some towns are particularly famous for their extravagant festivities. These are our top picks: visitmadeira.comDates: 26th February - 9th March 2025 Carnaval do Funchal in Madeira is one of Portugal’s most spectacular Carnival celebrations. Every year, the island’s capital bursts into life with dazzling parades, colourful costumes, and infectious rhythms. With warm weather and a lively atmosphere, Funchal is the perfect sun-soaked destination for Carnival. The festival’s highlights include the Grande Cortejo Alegórico (Grand Allegorical Parade), a stunning display of themed floats and samba dancers, and the Cortejo Trapalhão (Clumsy Parade), a playful, satirical procession. While you're there, indulge in local flavours—sip Vinho da Madeira, enjoy a refreshing poncha, and savour espetadas, Madeira’s famous grilled meat skewers. Whether for the parades, the atmosphere, or the flavours, Carnaval do Funchal promises an unforgettable celebration.  In southern Portugal, Carnaval de Loulé stands out as one of the country’s most important and vibrant Carnival celebrations. Located in the Algarve, Loulé enjoys a milder climate, making it an ideal destination for an outdoor party. But rain or shine, nothing stops the festivities—the streets always come alive with music, colour, and joy. Each year, Carnaval de Loulé embraces a unique theme, setting the tone for the parades and performances. These themes range from historical and cultural references to playful and imaginative concepts. Local groups, schools, and organisations showcase their creativity through elaborate floats and costumes, making every edition a visual spectacle. If you're heading to Loulé for Carnival, take the opportunity to explore more of the Algarve. Nearby destinations like Vilamoura, Albufeira, and Portimão offer stunning beaches, great nightlife, and a taste of the region’s laid-back charm. Carnaval de OvarDates: 8th February - 4th March 2025 Carnaval de Ovar, held in the Aveiro District, is one of Portugal’s most traditional and authentic Carnival celebrations. With deep roots in local customs and cultural heritage, it has long been a highlight of the region’s festive calendar. Locally known as "Carnaval Entrudo," the event embraces the spirit of pre-Lenten revelry before the solemn season of Lent. True to its traditions, Ovar’s Carnival is famous for its satirical floats, witty costumes, and socially charged performances, offering a playful yet sharp commentary on current events and societal issues. More than just a celebration, Carnaval de Ovar is a lively fusion of history, creativity, and community spirit, making it a must-experience event in Portugal. Carnaval de Alcobaça is often called the "most Brazilian" Carnival in Portugal, thanks to its electrifying energy and samba-filled celebrations. The heart of the festivities is a massive tent set up in front of the iconic Alcobaça Monastery, where thousands of people gather to dance to the rhythms of live samba bands and top DJs. The vibrant atmosphere, lively music, and non-stop partying make it a major draw for both locals and tourists. If you're heading to Alcobaça for Carnival, take the opportunity to explore some nearby gems. Leiria, Óbidos, and Caldas da Rainha are just a short drive away, offering a mix of medieval charm, cultural heritage, and relaxing thermal baths—perfect for unwinding after the celebrations.  Câmara Municipal de LisboaDates: 28th Febrary - 5th March 2025 Carnaval de Torres Vedras, held just 40 km from Lisbon, is one of Portugal’s most renowned and vibrant Carnival celebrations. Known as the biggest and “most Portuguese” Carnival, it blends deep-rooted traditions with a creative and satirical twist, making it a truly unique experience. The undisputed stars of the festival are the Matrafonas (also called Maria Cachuchas)—men dressed in flamboyant drag, adding humour and extravagance to the party. Another iconic sight is the Cabeçudos, performers wearing oversized, caricatured heads that bring a playful and theatrical touch to the streets. Famous for its sharp political and social satire, Carnaval de Torres Vedras transforms the city into a stage for witty and bold commentary. Elaborate floats, costumes, and performances poke fun at current events, turning the celebration into a mix of revelry and cultural expression. Dating back to the 19th century, the festival fuses centuries-old satirical traditions with Christian customs, creating an unmatched spectacle of creativity, laughter, and community spirit. Carnation Revolution: Portugal's Freedom Day On 25th April Portugal underwent a fundamental transformation known as the Carnation Revolution This pivotal event marked the end of the Estado Novo dictatorship and the start of Portugal's path to democracy The day is celebrated annually as Freedom Day to honour this peaceful transition and the newfound era of freedom and democracy in which the skeletal remains of Brazil-12 (northeast Brazil) were unearthed Universidade Federal de Pernambuco and Ana Nascimento Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco) The Americas were the last continent to be inhabited by humans An increasing body of archaeological and genomic evidence has hinted to a complex settlement process where unexpected ancestral signals have raised perplexing scenarios for the early migrations into different regions of the continent such as whether the first humans migrated south along the Pacific coast or by some other route While there is archaeological evidence for a north-to-south migration during the initial peopling of the Americas by ancient Indigenous peoples where these ancient humans went after they arrived has remained elusive Using DNA from two ancient human individuals unearthed in two different archaeological sites in northeast Brazil – Pedra do Tubarão and Alcobaça – and powerful algorithms and genomic analyses, Florida Atlantic University researchers in collaboration with Emory University have unraveled the deep demographic history of South America at the regional level with some unexpected and surprising results Not only do researchers provide new genetic evidence supporting existing archaeological data of the north-to-south migration toward South America they also have discovered migrations in the opposite direction along the Atlantic coast – for the first time The work provides the most complete genetic evidence to date for complex ancient Central and South American migration routes researchers also have discovered evidence of Neanderthal ancestry within the genomes of ancient individuals from South America Neanderthals are an extinct population of archaic humans that ranged across Eurasia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B suggest that human movements closer to the Atlantic coast eventually linked ancient Uruguay and Panama in a south-to-north migration route – 5,277 kilometers (3,270 miles) apart This novel migration pattern is estimated to have occurred approximately 1,000 years ago based on the ages of the ancient individuals Findings show a distinct relationship among ancient genomes from northeast Brazil This new model reveals that the settlement of the Atlantic coast occurred only after the peopling of most of the Pacific coast and Andes “These regional events likely derived from migratory waves involving the initial Indigenous peoples of South America near the Pacific coast.” Researchers also found strong Australasian (Australia and Papua New Guinea) genetic signals in an ancient genome from Panama “There is an entire Pacific Ocean between Australasia and the Americas and we still don’t know how these ancestral genomic signals appeared in Central and South America without leaving traces in North America,” said Andre Luiz Campelo dos Santos an archaeologist and a postdoctoral fellow in FAU’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science researchers also detected greater Denisovan than Neanderthal ancestry in ancient Uruguay and Panama individuals Denisovans are a group of extinct humans first identified from DNA sequences from the tip of finger bone discovered around 2008 “It’s phenomenal that Denisovan ancestry made it all the way to South America,” says John Lindo a co-corresponding author of the article who specializes in ancient DNA analysis and is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Emory University “The admixture must have occurred a long time before The fact that the Denisovan lineage persisted and its genetic signal made it into an ancient individual from Uruguay that is only 1,500 years old suggests that it was a large admixture event between a population of humans and Denisovans.” Previously at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife dos Santos and colleagues uncovered the remains of the two ancient humans from northeast Brazil which date back to at least 1,000 years before present and sent them to Lindo for DNA extraction and subsequent genomic sequencing and analyses Raw data were then sent to FAU for computational analysis of the whole genome sequences from northeast Brazil Researchers compared the two newly sequenced ancient whole genomes from northeast Brazil with present-day worldwide genomes and other ancient whole genomes from the Americas Lindo says that only a dozen or so ancient whole genomes from South America have been sequenced and published Apart from the occurrence of mass burials in the sites that yielded the samples from northeast Brazil there is no other evidence in the archaeological record that indicate shared cultural features among them the analyzed ancient individuals from southeast Brazil are about 9,000 years older than those from northeast Brazil enough time for expected and noticeable cultural divergence are located thousands of kilometers apart from each other “This groundbreaking research involved many different fields from archaeology to biological sciences to genomics and data science,” said Stella Batalama FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science “Our scientists at Florida Atlantic University in collaboration with Emory University have helped to shed light on an important piece of the Americas puzzle which could not have been solved without powerful genomic and computational tools and analysis.” Emory University; Henry Socrates Lavalle Sullasi This research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia de Pernambuco Tags: faculty and staff | technology | engineering | research If you are experiencing difficulty accessing information on the Florida Atlantic University website due to a disability, visit the website accessibility page. a bakery in the charming little town of Alcobaça Behind a gleaming glass counter are colorful award-winning pastries that have made the pâtisserie one of the most celebrated in the country customers sit outside at tables shadowed by large umbrellas and enjoy the view: a sumptuous Gothic monastery Alcôa’s specialities are made inside the bakery but their roots are in buildings like the nearly 1,000-year-old religious institution across the street the pastries are prepared precisely in the same way that nuns have produced them for centuries behind their cloistered walls This is due to the determination of Paula Alves who has devoted her life to recovering their lost recipes and techniques “Reconstructing this gastronomic tradition feels to me like rebuilding a giant puzzle,” she says you will find the information you need in the most unusual places.” It’s impossible to understand Portuguese bakery tradition without knowing about the history of the country’s convents Roman Catholic nuns built on this foundation and when sugar was introduced to Portugal in the 1400s the sisters started mixing it with egg yolk (often left over from using the whites when ironing noblemen’s elegant clothes) establishing the basic ingredients of convent sweets For the many women who joined convents not out of religious devotion but as a family obligation the craft offered a means of personal accomplishment “The monasteries used to host illustrious guests which the sisters tried to impress with their most elaborate creations,” says Alves “It was a matter of prestige for them.” the sisters created a dazzling variety of earthly temptations They showed creativity not only with the recipes but with their names: Barrigas-de-freira (nun’s belly) is a pudding of sugar is prepared with egg yolk and cornstarch left in sugar syrup for 24 hours nuns rolled little almond and egg-yolk balls in sugar “In many cases the sisters created unique specialties by mixing the conventual sweets’ basic ingredients with regional products,” says Alves This tradition started to fade in the 1800s after Napoleonic invasions and civil war introduced egalitarian and anti-clerical ideals religious orders were abolished and the majority of convents shut down and bakeries made altered versions of popular sweets such as bolo paraíso (paradise cake) or castanhas de ovos (egg chestnuts) These pastries remain incredibly popular across Portugal But many recipes almost completely vanished and Alves believed industrialization undermined the conventual-sweet tradition as bakeries sacrificed quality and replaced hours of meditative rolling and folding with flipping switches on KitchenAids and they employed it in perfecting their convent sweets,” she says It is not possible to accelerate the process without sacrificing the flavor.” This was the state of convent sweets in 1983 when Alves bought Alcôa along with her husband but already resolute that she would not employ the same shortcuts She wanted to recover the nuns’ lost pastries and make convent sweets precisely the same way the sisters had Alves’s passion for the project dated back to a gift she received when she was seven years old: a dusty consumed by time and handwritten in several elegant calligraphies It was an age-old recipe book that had been in her family for generations she practiced her precious notebook recipes and learned valuable tricks in the kitchen of the convent school where she studied for five years But Alves faced a formidable obstacle in her quest: the sisters’ penchant for secrecy Since the monasteries’ prestige was linked to their exquisite sweets “They left very few clues behind,” sighs Alves “And to retrieve them was not an easy task.” Her first idea was to consult the minutes of the Alcobaça monasteries “The 18th-century novelist William Beckford mentioned that Santa Maria de Cós Monastery was the place where he found the most diversified sweet production in all of his extensive travels,” says Alves “Since it was such a prestigious convent girls came from Portugal’s richest families and brought the most sophisticated recipes.” In historical archives and local libraries Alves spent hours reading original versions of these and other ancient documents which have miraculously survived the devastating 1755 Lisbon earthquake and Napoleonic invasions She got used to deciphering old handwriting to learn about the processes and materials used for sweet production and to convert old measurements to determine the exact amount of sugar or flour required in each recipe She read as passionately as one reads romance novels paying attention to small details such as side annotations or personal comments her own kitchen served as her experimental laboratory It’s where she reproduced dozens of different versions of cornucópias little cones made with a crispy dough filled with egg-yolk cream until she found the perfect consistency of the dough and a sublime taste for the cream cornucópias are Alcôa’s best-selling item and starting to sell her new discoveries in Alcôa she realized the missing ingredient was the human touch the laywomen of Alcobaça had worked for centuries in the monastery’s kitchen and passed down their experience as well as the intangible wisdom not found in books So Alves knocked on every door of Alcobaça in search of these descendants and interviewed them One woman was so moved that she gave Alves her personal recipe book and showed her how to bake her favorites Her interest eventually grew larger than the boundaries of her own region visiting surviving monasteries and driving hundreds of miles every time she heard about someone who kept an ancestral gastronomic tradition “I was particularly touched by this old lady in the Alentejo region who had baked the best nogado [a triangular-shaped dry fruit sweet] that I ever ate,” says Alves “But she refused to give it to anyone she shared her secret with me: She showed me the way she cut the dry-fruit dough and rolled it in the honey cream Alves’s efforts were enthusiastically received by the public Local and national newspapers interviewed her and published exceptional reviews of her recovered pastries but Alves continues to dedicate time to her investigation Her research has produced an impressive library on the subject 17 different recipes of toucinho-do-céu a delightful almond cake produced in several monasteries with regional variations as well as custom utensils used by nuns in monastery kitchens One of them—an aluminum funnel used to create fios de ovos also known as angel hair—divides egg yolks into thin threads that can be dropped into boiling sugar and stirred This is the key ingredient for divina gula Entering the Alcôa kitchen feels like stepping back in time Alves likes to call Alcôa a “handicraft workshop.” Still they make some accommodations to modernity and current tastes: Deviating from the more-austere original recipe for queijinho-do-céu they cover it with icing and caramel tears Pastelaria Alcôa introduces a new convent sweet based on Alves’s research “It is very arduous work that consumes most of my time even today,” she says the bakery’s creations have won 14 first prizes in the most renowned national convent-sweets competitions her personal and professional high point was baking for a distinguished guest: Pope Francis whom she met when he visited Portugal in 2017 “It was a dream come true,” she says “I just couldn’t hold back my tears.” We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the world’s hidden wonders Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders Read today's Portuguese stories delivered to your email Located in the heart of the Silver Coast in Alcobaça, Portugal The Place is a full-service destination management company providing relocation scouting services across all of Portugal.  Clyde and I started the business together to really help people navigate a lot of the parts of moving to Portugal that are outside of the traditional roles of it such as an attorney or a real estate agent.” Portugal The Place clients can be relocated to a rural area “We support them through the whole process it is usually a 9 to 12 months arc from the first time we meet with our clients and help them learn about different locations all the way to the day that we give them their keys and help them get settled in We are also a resource so we will help you navigate purchasing a car moving your pet or even getting your children registered in school whatever it takes to get you settled and have a soft landing.” Colleen and Clyde have a hospitality and travel background and have lived in Portugal for over two years we came here on vacation in 2019 before the pandemic and we did the normal tourist things of visiting Porto and Lisbon We have travelled the world but we have never had the experience of the warmth of the people and the destination capturing our imagination like Portugal.” we knew we wanted some type of continuing business my husband and I had thought about a hotel or doing something in hospitality but then as we started to learn about people that were struggling to find information outside the urban areas we wanted to create a team that would be there for you and would be a base when you move to Portugal and helps you navigate it comfortably.” When asked what it means to be a client of Portugal The Place Colleen explained “Asides from the three core services which includes location scouting where we help our clients see the destinations in Portugal we assist with the rental scouting that qualifies for the visa and we also do property purchase scouting We are not real estate agents; we help our clients to navigate the cultural differences and connect with professionals we have vetted to make sure they are getting a good experience.” Credits: Supplied Image; Author: Kai Myrdal Photography - www.kaimyrdal.com; Colleen shared that “Another piece we have been asked by our clients and we are passionate about is creating opportunities for clients to literally invest back into the community We are starting to launch our first project that we are going to partner with one of the cities on the Silver Coast to have people invest and volunteer and give back to the community.” “This is something that Americans do really well and immigrants really want to do We want to show that we can make that impact in a positive way because there has been a lot of concern about bringing a large international contingency to an area and what that does We have worked with the city council in Alcobaça for example with business owners there and we have had some fantastic feedback on the economic impact as well as talks on how we can we invest in a respectful way and we wish to expand this to other locations across Portugal.” Colleen finally told The Portugal News: “We recognise that there is tension about the international community moving to Portugal which is why we are Portuguese company paying Portuguese tax It is important to us to hire people on contract and pay them double the minimum wage so that we are doing everything we can to make an economic impact that is positive Portugal is a beautiful country with amazing people but we need to be aware of how we impact that and maintain this as a beautiful place by also integrating our clients into the community respectfully.” For more information, please visit Portugal the Place or alternatively to get in touch with their friendly team, please call +351 961 315 405 or email inquiries@portugaltheplace.com We appreciate that not everyone can afford to pay for our services but if you are able to we ask you to support The Portugal News by making a contribution – no matter how small You can change how much you give or cancel your contributions at any time More Tourisum information for Yanks.!!!!!@@@ Send us your comments or opinion on this article Reaching over 400,000 people a week with news about Portugal You may not be able to find the page you were after because of: You might find one of the following links useful: Gain insights on a modern flash point test method that enhances safety and reduces sample volume requirements AFM can provide new insights into 2D materials to better understand their potential applications Kyocera's Fine Ceramics enable next-gen renewable energy solutions offering exceptional stability and performance in hydrogen and nuclear fusion applications Micro-XRF is the key method used for the highly sensitive and non-destructive elemental analysis of a number of samples including in-homogenous and irregular samples Optimize compounding and masterbatch processes to boost efficiency while maintaining top material quality AirBreather is the solution the gas monitoring challenges across applications The global semiconductor market has entered an exciting period Demand for chip technology is both driving the industry as well as hindering it with current chip shortages predicted to last for some time Current trends will likely shape the future of the industry The primary distinction between graphene-based batteries and solid-state batteries lies in the composition of either electrode carbon allotropes can also be employed in fabricating anodes the IoT is rapidly being introduced into almost all sectors but it has particular importance in the EV industry you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from AZoNetwork.com please log into your AZoProfile account first Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content A few things you need to know before we start Read the full Terms & Conditions The Rocha pear is one of the staple products that Portugal grows Logistics and Marketing for Portuguese fruit exporter Granfer: "The Rocha pear and it has kept the same characteristics that it had 188 years ago It's undoubtedly an extraordinary pear in terms of taste all seemed well when the forecasts were published in June Ferreira acknowledges the situation has changed since then we were expecting to bounce back from last year's fall in production due to the appearance of the dark spots and just not having as much acreage as we used to here in Oeste it will be quite a small crop for the Rocha pear Granfer isn't solely relying on the specific orchards with problems as they have multiple orchards with multiple pear-varieties "We do work with Rocha and other pear varieties in different regions in Portugal and Spain but the current scenario for the main producing region and main pear variety shows us we have a couple of challenges ahead in the next years We have slightly more volume of other winter varieties but these are relatively new investments." Weather conditions have contributed to challenges during cultivation as the lack of cold temperatures has made it harder for flowering Feirreira explains: "The weather has given us higher than usual temperatures combined with high humidity as well These factors help proliferate threats to our orchard during the summer months the lack of cold hours during the winter has made it harder to have good flowering and proper hibernation for the fruit trees." Granfer hopes to get more of a foothold in the Middle Eastern market for their pears Europe and the Americas are the main export markets like the Middle East with our summer pears and have started supplying two countries recently in West Africa with our wide array of pear varieties," Ferreira says the last Rocha pear season in Portugal was a very difficult one this had to do with multiple factors: "The previous pear season was rather difficult so last year brought a bundle of some of the worst challenges we could imagine The fire blight definitely compromised the short-term potential for Rocha pear in the Oeste region either because trees were chopped in half or completely removed to control the blight The dark spots and sunburn also appeared near the harvest season Despite the challenging Rocha pear season last year the clientele is really loyal and committed to the product "We're hoping for the best season possible with the current available yield delivering approximately the same quantities available last year to our long-time Rocha clients We really have a great consumer base for Rocha which we are very grateful for we're always looking towards the future and new markets especially as Granfer keeps investing in more plantations and other varieties." Granfer has also started their apple season and Ferreira expects it to be a thrilling season: "Next to pears we also have our apple season and it is looking to be an exciting season Our total volumes are also expected to be slightly higher than they during the previous season we are actively looking for new clients in each of these markets." Ferreira emphasizes that the Portuguese apple has come a long way in terms of popularity The apples are exported to various continents Candine® which is a club variety as well as standard Gala apples which fit different customer profiles and budgets Portuguese apples are becoming more and more known and our Alcobaça Apple - Maçã de Alcobaça has conquered a well-deserved place as a high-quality apple in European Ferreira is excited for the complete Portuguese top fruit season: "We trust that our ongoing investments and a favourable market this year will support us in further reaching our goals and delivering our crunchy red and green variety apples to new consumers Our aim is to fulfil the expectation of our apple consumers particularly all of the Alcobaça Apple fans as well as to develop our other lines and varieties It will also be important to gain the trust of our clients in the new markets." For more information:Tomás FerreiraGranferTel: +351 910 200 993Email: [email protected] www.granfer.pt The 31st edition of the Alcobaça Music Festival, Cistermúsica will take place between the 30 June and 30 July and will include a number of different artistic and musical performances This edition of the festival will be dedicated to women in classical music responding to the "injustice that women composers have suffered throughout the centuries" The president of the ABA - Alcobaça Band Arts Association Rui Morais has said the theme of this edition of Cistermúsica - Alcobaça Music Festival is “very special" and aims to correct "the injustice that women have suffered over the centuries both in terms of composition and interpretation" Highlighting female composers from various historical periods Female music takes centre stage as the festival highlights the contributions of female composers and instrumentalists throughout history attendees will have the opportunity to experience the works of esteemed composers such as Inês Badalo Two Portuguese ensembles will focus heavily on the theme of female musicians and in the programmes they bring to the Festival: Melleo Harmonia Antigua and Ensemble Vocal Aura One will showcase female music from the baroque period and the other will focus on the romantic period eliciting names such as Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn the artistic directed has highlighted Cistermúsica´s “synergy with other festivals” which will be reflected in performances such as the concert by the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa (July 1st) which will be in partnership with the Espinho International Music Festival and the concert by the Jovem Orquestra Portuguesa in partnership with the Festival das Artes QuebraJazz which will result in a concert with Andreï Korobeinikov on the piano (July 23) Commemorating the artistry of Sergei Rachmaninov Cistermúsica will also celebrate 150 years of the Russian composer and there will be a weekend dedicated to celebrating his musical works There will be a recital scheduled for 20 July by Jill Lawson (Portugal) and Eleonora Karpukhova (Russia) which André Cunha Leal highlighted will “recover an old duo to bring to Cistermúsica an absolutely mesmerising repertoire for two pianos” and is set to be an enchanting performance Tatiana Samouil and Andrei Korobeinikov will come together in a violin another of the moments which have been listed as highlights today by the artistic director Bringing together musicians from different countries Cistermúsica will feature additional programmatic lines such as "Outros Mundos" (Other Worlds) These initiatives will bring musicians from 13 different countries to venues including the Monastery of Alcobaça and five parishes within the municipality performances will extend to cities like Lisbon This year's festival introduces a new element with free jazz concerts every Saturday providing a diversified musical experience across various venues Affordability of tickets has been key consideration With its motto "a classic for everyone," the festival aims to ensure affordability with ticket prices ranging from 6 to 20 euros Rui Morais anticipates surpassing last year's audience of 10 000 spectators The festival will finish with a closing concert on July 30th which promises to be a truly memorable choral performance the Alcobaça Music Festival has been organised by Banda de Alcobaça with the support of the local authority and the General Directorate of Arts with 50% of the funding provided by sponsors Are you celebrating Carnival in Portugal this year The Portugal News is here to share the best places to celebrate this euphoric event based on the calendar of the Catholic Church Carnival known for its elaborate vivid costumes music and dancing marks the last chance for people to indulge in festivities before Lent begins Carnival comes from the word ‘carnis levale’ which means ‘the removal of meat’ and is related to fasting during Lent which is the 40 day period leading up to Easter Loulé Carnival Entertainment is guaranteed at Loulé Carnival from the 11th to the 13th of February 2024 in an event that attracts many national and foreign visitors to Avenida José da Costa Mealha Loulé’s municipal website shares “The oldest parade in the country registers the influx of thousands of revellers over the three days cabeçudos and gigantones (figures with costumes and masks made out of paper-mâché) bring special color to Avenida José da Costa Mealha schools and organisations who showcase their creativity Ovar Carnival Located in the district of Aveiro, Ovar is another great place to enjoy an authentic Carnival celebration which has been running since the end of January and will run until 13th of February 2024. Ovar's Carnival has a long history and its festivities are deeply rooted in local customs and cultural heritage Idealista states “Also known as Vitamina da Alegria it has been celebrated in an organised way since 1952 It currently has the participation of around 20 Carnival groups and four Samba schools as well as several cultural events that last several weeks “These festivities have the particularity of being entirely made up of volunteers from the municipality and unlike other Carnival festivities - in which public figures are invited the King and Queen who sponsor the event are ordinary citizens normally chosen by their contribution and involvement in the community “Ovar's Carnival often incorporates satire and social commentary and performances may feature humorous and satirical elements providing a platform for locals to express their opinions on current events and societal issues.” Alcobaça Carnival The Alcobaça Carnival is running from the 8th to the 14th of February 2024 with this year’s theme being the olympics thousands of people gather to dance and enjoy the sound of samba concerts and famous DJs that attract loads of tourists You could also take the opportunity to visit Óbidos and Caldas da Rainha which are not far from Alcobaça Torres Vedras Carnival only 40km from Lisbon is one of the most renowned and lively Carnival celebrations in Portugal and this year is no different with it running from the 9th to the 14th of February 2024 Carnaval de Torres Vedras is famous for its satirical and humorous approach The festivities often include social and political commentary through the use of elaborate floats including ‘The Matrafonas and the famous ‘Cabeçudos’ which are people dressed in costumes with 'giant heads’ Participants use the celebration as an opportunity to express opinions on current events with a touch of humor Funchal Carnival Carnival runs from the 7th to the 18th of February 2024 and starts on Wednesday before the “Entrudo” (Shrove Tuesday) and the fun goes on until the “Enterro do Osso” that takes place on the Saturday after Carnival day Funchal Carnival is an annual event that attracts both locals and tourists featuring a unique blend of traditional and contemporary elements One of the highlights is its spectacular parades where multiple samba groups and lively music characterise the processions that wind through the streets of Funchal The parades often feature a mix of traditional themes the most famous ones being the Grande Cortejo Alegórico (The Big Parade) and the Cortejo Trapalhão (Clumsy Parade) ‘Caretos of Podence’ in the municipality of Macedo de Cavaleiros the village of Podence hosts one of the most important Carnival events in the north of the country Its “Entrudo Chocalheiro” has been classified by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Its “caretos” are male devilish figures who wear brightly coloured costumes and masks and who according to the Caretos de Podence website “take to the streets screaming jumping and running wildly through the streets of the village perching on balconies and entering some houses in the village where they often are invited to eat and drink a more moderate behavior than in previous decades which proves to be more appropriate to the current scenario of the party The strong participation of the community has allowed this tradition to be maintained throughout the centuries until today.” Entrudo Chocalheiro in Podence is running from the 10th to the 13th of February and the event includes concerts, street entertainment, exhibitions and night parades. For the full programme please visit www.caretosdepodence.pt where you will find the full schedule under events Following undertaking her university degree in English with American Literature in the UK Cristina da Costa Brookes moved back to Portugal to pursue a career in Journalism where she has worked at The Portugal News for 3 years Cristina’s passion lies with Arts & Culture as well as sharing all important community-related news Scientists investigating the genomes of ancient South Americans have made a surprising discovery: the presence of DNA from Neanderthals and Denisovans two species of humans that are now extinct The findings complicate our understanding of ancient South Americans and their ancestries The research, which interrogated human remains from Brazil, Panama, and Uruguay, also revealed migration patterns of these early South Americans across the continent. It’s the first time that Denisovan or Neanderthal ancestries have been reported in ancient South Americans. The research is published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B “The presence of these ancestries in ancient Native American genomes can be explained by episodes of interbreeding between anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals and Denisovans which should have occurred millennia before the first human groups entered the Americas through Beringia,” said Andre Luiz Campelo dos Santos an archaeologist at Florida Atlantic University and the study’s lead author The research affirmed archaeological evidence of north-to-south migration toward South America but also indicated migrations occurred in the opposite direction the team compared genomes from ancient human remains found in Brazil and Uruguay with ancient remains from across the United States (including Alaska Two ancient whole genomes from teeth found in northeast Brazil that were included in the study were newly sequenced In addition to the ancient human genomes featured in the analysis the team looked at present-day worldwide genomes and DNA sequences taken from Denisovan and Neanderthal remains from Russia The latter remains are over tens of thousands of years old (Neanderthals disappear from the fossil record around 40,000 years ago) but some of the human remains are just 1,000 years old the analysis revealed chunks of Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA in the ancient South American genomes as well as Australasian signals in the remains of one individual from Panama The Australasian signal was previously detected in ancient remains in southeastern Brazil and is present today in the Sirui people of Amazonia “The extra amount of Denisovan ancestry in some populations does seem to fit with extra ancestry from Papuans so in that sense the data is consistent,” said Laurits Skov a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology who was not affiliated with the recent study it will be very interesting if we could figure out exactly when this Australasian ancestry component appears in the Americas and how much Denisovan/Neanderthal it brings with it,” Skov added The ancient individuals in Panama and Brazil had more Denisovan ancestral signals in their genomes than they did Neanderthal-specific ancestry. Today, the opposite is the case in humans around the world: We have more Neanderthal in us than Denisovan the Denisovan ancestry was mixed into the South American humans as long as 40,000 years ago and its signal persisted in the remains of a 1,500-year-old individual from Uruguay Santos said there was no evidence of the Australasian signal in ancient North American remains which suggests ancient Australasians may have gotten to the Americas without crossing Beringia the team hopes to examine more ancient Native American and present-day Polynesian genomes in future studies “The Australasian ancestry in the Americas is perplexing as this has been reported for isolated samples widely separated by space and time and doesn’t show a clear pattern,” said Iosif Lazaridis a geneticist at Harvard University who was not affiliated with the work “Such ancestry may have spread with Austronesian migrations across the Pacific (a non-Beringian route) as Austronesians were able seafarers,” Lazaridis added there is no evidence Austronesians made it to the Americas the story we know of human existence becomes colored with the genetics of long-lost hominin species scientists can develop a more complete portrait of how humankind dispersed across the continents and how much of what makes us human is actually not from Homo sapiens at all More: Sweeping Genetic Study of Ancient Eurasians Reveals Thousands of Years of History ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " More than 700 culturally-significant sites across 112 countries worldwide have benefited from the fund’s work which not only raises awareness for the need to continue to safeguard them but also raises money to repair and protect them in partnership with local communities For the past 60 years, the conservation organization World Monuments Fund has campaigned to protect some of our most important international heritage sites Since the mid-1990s, the fund has created a biennial list based on nominations from around the globe of the most pressingly endangered cultural locations and the 2025 WMF list features 25 different locations across five continents (and beyond) Here’s what you need to know about 10 of them which says that its inclusion on the list  “marks the beginning of a new chapter for the building.”  The Great Trading Path was an important trade route that for centuries connected the Indigenous peoples of America’s southeast corner then split into two paths in South Carolina Along its route lay several sacred sites and meeting places surviving segments that remain vitally important to America’s Occaneechi community to this day portions of the trail were turned into wagon routes and eventually paved roads The WMF is now highlighting calls among the Occaneechi to preserve what remains of the trail and raise public awareness of its role in uniting the Indigenous peoples of the area Almost 70 historic lighthouses are scattered across the rocky Atlantic coast of Maine, the oldest of which—the Portland Head Light on Cape Elizabeth—first illuminated the surrounding oceans way back in 1791 and the increasingly turbulent coastal environment resulting from it are now posing significant threats to these extraordinary landmarks; the Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest-warming marine regions in the world and is currently warming at three times the average global rate WMF hopes “to assemble light station stewards across Maine to exchange strategies and resources for climate adaptation and inspire broader public conversations around the future of coastal communities and their heritage.”  Founded in 1153, the Monastery of Alcobaça, located around 100 miles south of Lisbon, is home to an extraordinary collection of unique terracotta sculptures dating from the 1600s and 1700s These sculptures were made using a novel technique in which local clay was baked into hollow blocks called tacelos that were then stacked and finished in situ to create extraordinarily detailed sculptures that were massive in scale But the tacelos have proven to be devastatingly susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity The Monastery of Alcobaça is already a UNESCO World Heritage Site so the WMF’s work aims to continue to preserve what remains of the Alcobaça sculptures while giving local artisan potters the training needed to conserve and restore them Built in in the late 16th century by Altan Khan it is now the oldest monastery in Mongolia—but decades of disrepair and new threats from a changing climate have led to calls for its continued preservation in 2025 The WMF hopes its inclusion on the list will “galvanize support to preserve a remarkable specimen of Mongolia’s Buddhist history and support local professionals to ensure the protection of their heritage for posterity.” Arguably one of the most futuristic and bizarre-looking structures on this year’s list, the Cinema Studio Namibe is a modernist cinema building in the Angolan port city of Moçâmedes in southeast Africa Construction of the cinema—which has a remarkable partly open-air design created by the Portuguese architect José Botelho Pereir—began in 1973 When civil war broke out in Angola just two years later and the cinema has remained incomplete ever since The WMF aims to reignite interest in completing its construction turning it at long last into the cultural community hub it was always intended to be The rooms have sat vacant for several years now but calls to renovate the Belfast Assembly Rooms have recently been gaining momentum with the WMF now backing a local campaign to transform the building into a museum dedicated to the Northern Irish Troubles and the peace accord that brought them to an end The eastern coastal areas and islands of Africa are a blend of African, European, Indian, and Arab influences. With the world’s climate changing, however, sites along the coastlines of Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique—as well as the nearby Comoros islands—are under serious threat from rising sea levels and ever greater surges from storms in the Indian Ocean The WMF is hoping to “mobilize expertise and resources to address these interlinked challenges through an approach that strengthens both physical resilience and social fabric through targeted interventions across the region.”   On January 1, 2024, a magnitude-7.6 earthquake (and several powerful aftershocks) struck the Noto Peninsula in western Japan, triggering wildfires, land liquefaction, and a tsunami. More than 450 people were killed, and a staggering 136,000 buildings were destroyed—including many locally significant historical structures. This corner of Japan has a documented history dating back almost 6000 years and the WMF aims to lead “a series of community-driven preservation projects in the Noto Peninsula to catalyze the region’s recovery and resilience.” By far the most unusual entry on this year’s list, the WMF has highlighted the need to protect the heritage landscape of the moon—including Neil Armstrong’s footprints—in an era of ever-increasing interest in commercial space travel © 2025 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved Since the mid-1990s, the fund has created a biennial list based on nominations from around the globe of the most pressingly endangered cultural locations The Great Trading Path Almost 70 historic lighthouses are scattered across the rocky Atlantic coast of Maine, the oldest of which—the Portland Head Light on Cape Elizabeth—first illuminated the surrounding oceans way back in 1791 Founded in 1153, the Monastery of Alcobaça, located around 100 miles south of Lisbon, is home to an extraordinary collection of unique terracotta sculptures dating from the 1600s and 1700s Arguably one of the most futuristic and bizarre-looking structures on this year’s list, the Cinema Studio Namibe is a modernist cinema building in the Angolan port city of Moçâmedes in southeast Africa The eastern coastal areas and islands of Africa are a blend of African, European, Indian, and Arab influences. With the world’s climate changing, however, sites along the coastlines of Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique—as well as the nearby Comoros islands—are under serious threat from rising sea levels On January 1, 2024, a magnitude-7.6 earthquake (and several powerful aftershocks) struck the Noto Peninsula in western Japan, triggering wildfires, land liquefaction, and a tsunami. More than 450 people were killed, and a staggering 136,000 buildings were destroyed—including many locally significant historical structures. This corner of Japan has a documented history dating back almost 6000 years By far the most unusual entry on this year’s list, the WMF has highlighted the need to protect the heritage landscape of the moon—including Neil Armstrong’s footprints—in an era of ever-increasing interest in commercial space travel From lighthouses to terracotta sculptures to out-of-this-world spots these important heritage sites are at risk due to things like degradation and climate change '+n.escapeExpression("function"==typeof(o=null!=(o=r(e,"eyebrowText")||(null!=l?r(l,"eyebrowText"):l))?o:n.hooks.helperMissing)?o.call(null!=l?l:n.nullContext||{},{name:"eyebrowText",hash:{},data:t,loc:{start:{line:28,column:63},end:{line:28,column:78}}}):o)+" \n '+(null!=(o=c(e,"if").call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2PreText"):l,{name:"if",hash:{},fn:n.program(32,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:63,column:20},end:{line:63,column:61}}}))?o:"")+"\n"+(null!=(o=(c(e,"ifAll")||l&&c(l,"ifAll")||n.hooks.helperMissing).call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Text"):l,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Link"):l,{name:"ifAll",hash:{},fn:n.program(34,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:64,column:20},end:{line:70,column:30}}}))?o:"")+" (ANS – Lisbon) – The symbols of World Youth Day the pilgrim cross and the icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani arrived on 1 July in the Patriarchate of Lisbon which will host the international event in August which include a total of 22 municipalities the symbols make a pilgrimage through all the dioceses of the host country to proclaim the Gospel and accompany young people The pilgrim cross and the icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani were handed over to the young Portuguese on 22 November on the day of the Solemnity of Christ the King was entrusted by John Paul II to young people on Palm Sunday the following year so that it could be carried around the world Pope John Paul II also introduced the Salus Populi Romani icon as a symbol of Mary's presence among young people It is a replica of the icon of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore which Arriving now in the Patriarchate of Lisbon the WYD symbols were received with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Manuel Clemente The Patriarch recalled that Lisbon will be the last stop for the cross and the Marian icon before the WYD from the north to the south of the country many things have happened and continue to happen because the signs of God's presence have been received Cardinal Manuel Clemente joined some young people to carry the cross through the streets of Alcobaça passing in front of the market and the City Hall To know all the stages of the WYD symbol itinerary in Portugal, you can access the lisboa2023.org website ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007 This site also uses third-party cookies to improve user experience and for statistical purposes By scrolling through this page or by clicking on any of its elements A man has been arrested in Nazaré for renting out empty properties for holidays as if they were his The 30-year-old man is suspected of committing 16 crimes of fraud The suspect “took advantage of houses that were empty because they belonged to foreign owners or people who did not live in them changed the locks and rented them out for holidays” the commander of the Caldas da Rainha Territorial Detachment told Lusa news agency the man “advertised the houses and even made visits to the location with those interested in renting and with whom he then signed contracts “there were homeowners who arrived at homes and found them occupied by people who had rented them out without their knowledge,” he added The crimes took place from the summer of 2023 to March 2024 in the municipalities of Alcobaça, Caldas da Rainha, Óbidos, and Peniche, the GNR said in a statement which culminated with the arrest of the suspect in the municipalities of Porto de Mós and Nazaré These resulted in the seizure of two vehicles; nine cell phones to carry out fraud crimes; an ATM card; a laptop computer and various tools used to carry out the crimes He seems smarter than most of the bureaucrats and government employees in Portugal He might be over-qualified to be a politician I admire your sense of humor and applaud your complete non take on a fraud and praise of a criminal; I guess that is a upper lip english attitude Portugal - October 2023 - About a hundred young people from the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) from various Salesian houses and the houses of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians gathered in Alcobaça to take part in a pilgrimage on foot to the Shrine at Fatima followed a spiritual process made up of testimonies the Sacrament of the Eucharist and Reconciliation under the title of "We follow you without fear" was prepared by young people in the SYM accompanied by the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians The event was attended by the Salesian Provincial of Portugal Pixabay Editorial Team 23 August 2023 12:00The history of Portugal has left many buildings and constructions that today delight those who visit this coastal paradise And it is mainly in Greater Lisbon and the Centre region where the monuments that most attracted the interest of both foreign and Portuguese tourists last year are located The imposing buildings that make up the list of the seven most visited monuments in Portugal and that are appreciated by all generations range in style from Gothic architecture to Manueline here is the ranking of the seven historic buildings that received the most visitors in 2022 and we have some curious facts about each of them PixabayAccording to data from the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC) the seventh place in this Top 7 of the most visited monuments is occupied by the beautiful National Palace of Mafra it's time to take a little excursion on one of those beach days in Ericeira and get to know this incredible place But let's move on to the trivia: did you know that King D Miguel's initial idea was to make the world a better place it was a modest convent to house thirteen friars the work gained astronomical dimensions and today occupies 4 hectares as it is one of the most important in Europe and also among the most beautiful in the world PixabayThis fantastic work of Cistercian architecture is 870 years old with the growth of tourism and interest in cultural heritage the first and largest of the early Gothic style built in the Middle Ages received almost 200,000 visitors in the past year The Monastery of Alcobaça leads us to the most famous love story in Portugal as the graves of both were placed face to face so that the two lovers will meet again on the Day of Resurrection Wikimedia commonsThe first to exceed the milestone of 200,000 entries in 2022 was the Museu Nacional do Azulejo as this is one of the most important national museums due to the distinct artistic expression of our culture you just have to go to the old Convento de Madre de Deus there you will find a tile panel depicting Lisbon before the 1755 earthquake where it is easy to identify the major changes caused by the disaster in the design of our capital PixabayThe famous Janela do Capítulo This true work of art is a hit on social media and ranks 4th in the most visited Portuguese monuments While may have heard of the famous Manueline window and even the fact that the convent is linked to the time of the Knights Templar you probably don't know that this phenomenal place was once the setting for the film "Damsel" the monument had to be closed to the public due to shooting in the Friars’ Kitchen and the Carving Room PixabayOn arrival at the podium, we head towards the district of Leiria and find the Monastery of Batalha This architectural ensemble was built as a result of a promise made by King D in gratitude for the victory in the battle of Aljubarrota its real name is Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória The Royal Cloister and the Imperfect Chapels PixabayThe silver medal goes to the beautiful Belém Tower Then the Tower was completely surrounded by water over the years and due to the movement of the river on low tide days it is possible to walk to its base and which goes unnoticed even by the most attentive is the fact that there is an image of a rhinoceros carved on the outside This was the first representation of this animal found in Europe and was inspired by the rhinoceros that was offered to the King D According to the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage the Jerónimos Monastery was last year the most visited monument in the country Located in Belém, this architectural masterpiece took over a hundred years to build. And in 1983 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Monastery is also a resting place for monarchical figures, as it is here that the tombs of King D. João da Silva are located. Manuel I and his family, as well as one of the most famous Portuguese navigators, Vasco da Gama. After two years of pandemic, tourism and culture have bounced back in the past year and, as a result, the number of visits to our monuments has almost tripled. According to the DGPC, 2022 was quite positive, but still far from the excellent figures achieved between 2017 and 2020. In a 2023 already free from facemasks, alcohol gel and, above all, confinements, we believe that this will be a year in which visits to our heritage return to pre-pandemic numbers. We look forward to the results. Until then, we advise you to make a stop between the 1st and 2nd place of the Top 7 to eat some delicious pastéis de Belém. was voted the “Best Four Star Hotel” in Portugal at the Publituris Portugal Travel Awards 2014 contest Built in 1935 and recently renovated, the Terra Nostra Garden Hotel  is the most recognizable hotel of the Azores nestled inside the volcanic complex of Furnas Valley the Publituris Portugal Travel Awards distinguish the best companies services and professionals who have excelled in the tourism sector during the last half of 2013 and the first of 2014 Winners are chosen by online voting  (40%) and by jury voting (60%) The Publituris Portugal Travel Awards ceremony took place last Friday dRMM has secured planning consent for an Atlantic-facing spa hotel in Portugal’s central Oeste region The Munícipio de Alcobaça approved plans for an 81-room scheme last month on a 43ha site on Portugal’s coast near the town of Nazaré Working with local firm Estúdio Periférico dRMM’s Hotel Atlantic proposals include interconnected buildings stepping down towards the coastline Outdoor and indoor walkways will connect different parts of the hotel which includes gardens by landscape designer Leonor Miguéis The scheme also features dining facilities Guests will enter the complex through a triple-height entrance lobby with parabolic arch columns made of locally sourced timber Other materials featured include local stone dRMM says the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals were used as a framework for the scheme’s energy strategy It includes on-site water harvesting recycling natural ventilation throughout the buildings and rooftop solar panels dRMM’s Alex de Rijke told the AJ: ‘The resultant design is a UK/Portuguese team effort to integrate bio-based local construction materials with the ecology of the clifftop site ‘Guests and staff can bask in and shelter from the marine climate in connected interior and exterior spaces The sun setting on the Atlantic horizon is the uniting natural phenomenon across a range of planned experiences.’ He added: ‘This project is not just a chic hotel with sea views from every room in an area famous for spectacular surf The client’s programme is all about promoting health and wellbeing Tags BDP’s College of Arts & Society at Coventry University has been named… Lewisham Council has given Turner Works planning permission for a mixed-use regeneration… Wandsworth Council has given Gehry Partners planning permission for two more residential… Southwark Council has approved tp bennett’s plans for a 25-storey student tower… a festival that celebrated Portuguese and Spanish speaking cultures Many Portuguese artists were invited to share their work Nobel Prize José Saramago was remembered and authors such as Afonso Cruz e Dulce Maria Cardoso brought Portuguese literature to the event The Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporaneo while Portuguese music was represented by Sofia Ribeiro and Luisa Sobral I have always loved The Gift – a popular alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Portugal – that has released five albums to date so I always kept my ‘portugueseness’ nearby: Da Weasel and The Gift CDs shelved next to my Pessoa books The Gift is still part of my favorite playlists Their music was a strong companion from adolescence through adulthood or even Gaivota brought me solace when I broke up with my first boyfriend I was exited and felt very honored to interview John Gonçalves I think the most important part of that week was to play at the Kennedy Center and we only know some of the most important cultural centers through photography and history and the Kennedy Center is obviously one of them invited us to participate in the Iberian Suite our dream was to play at the Kennedy Center Then we learnt we were going to be part of this festival It was truly a moment of happiness and it was with great pleasure that we accepted to be part of this celebration we fulfilled a dream to play at the Kennedy Center to represent Portugal in the United States What was different for The Gift when playing for an audience abroad although we had played several times in the US including New York We did not know whether we were going to have an audience in Washington D.C The interesting aspect of playing in the US is how each state is different in that we could have two hundred people coming to see us in Philadelphia one day and zero in Washington D.C We had a full house – 300 to 500 people in the room – and we received amazing feedback from the audience When we were signing albums after the show we realized we had a mixed audience: Portuguese living in the US Portuguese students in American universities who decided to go watch the concert but also people who did not know about us and decided to come watch the concert whereas when we play abroad we always have to win (conquistar) the audience because there is a high chance people will not know who we are We have to win and conquer like our navigators did when winning new territory It makes a tremendous difference playing in Portugal versus playing abroad Even in countries where we have an established fan base I understand the importance of captivating an audience How was it for you to see our theatre represented in Washington Teatro Meridional is one of our great references in Portugal I must have been 18 years old when I organized a Teatro Meridional production in Alcobaça It was heart-warming to learn that after many years both The Gift and Teatro Meridional were involved in this project in Washington Theatre Meridional has always been a model of independent art It was a pleasure to be part of this cultural catalogue with them We haven’t conquered the world but we have planted important seeds in various art forms Will The Gift return to North America in the near future as part of the Portuguese week celebrations once our new album comes out we plan to tour in the US and Canada We hope to continue counting on the fantastic support of the Arte Institute Sometimes people do not know what being a musician means What message would you like to leave for our PAJ readers The message I would like to leave is a simple one to distance ourselves from Portugal over time My message concerns the use of social media and social networks to stay in the loop regarding Portuguese art and culture – in Portugal and abroad – be it music It is important for people to understand and promote Portuguese culture through out social media and simply through word of mouth by sharing their knowledge with others Every one of us plays a vital role in promoting new hip-hop There is a vast artistic talent pool in Portugal and it is important for that talent to be shared Follow The Gift on Facebook or through their website Sorry, this audio is not yet available or has expiredBrought to you by Welcome to a special concert that is part of the Euroradio Christmas Music Day, celebrated on December 17th, in a shared broadcast marathon of seasonal concerts from 15 EBU organisations in 16 countries: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom. For this concert. the ensemble Avres Serva performs works by Portuguese and Italian composers from the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century at the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon, with soprano Mariana Castello-Branco, cellist Pedro Massarrão and organist Nuno Oliveira directing the musicians. Policarpo José António da Silva was an important tenor, composer, keyboard player and singing teacher. He worked in Portugal at the end of the 18th century, with an important contribution to the Brotherhood of Saint Cecilia. His career as a singer at Patriarcal, Real Capela and Real Câmara de Lisboa is worth highlighting. He is the author of lamentations, songs, contra dances, chamber duets, and other pieces, as well as a cello concerto. Domenico Gabrielli was an Italian Baroque composer and one of the first known virtuoso cellists, as well as a pioneer in writing music for the cello. He wrote several operas, as well as instrumental and vocal works. He was especially notable as the composer of some of the earliest works for solo cello (two sonatas for cello and basso continuo, a group of seven ricercari for cello, and a canon for two cellos). (Avres Serva) Live concert recording from the National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon, Portugal on December 12th, 2023 courtesy of Euroradio. Frei Jerónimo da Madre de Deus: In Sabatho Sancto: Lectio 8a Et ideo novi testamentiDomenico Gabrielli: Sonata No. 1Frei Francisco do Carmo: Organ Verses on the 6th tone, according to the prayer of the psalm from the Royal Choir at the Monastery of AroucaPolicarpo José António da Silva: Lisam Primeyra da 5a Feira, for solo sopranoFrancisco de São Boaventura: ToccataJoão José Baldi: Calendar for Christmas EveAntónio da Silva Leite: Feria V in Coena Domini Lectio VI Mariana Castello-Branco (soprano)Pedro Massarrão (cello)Avres ServaNuno Oliveira (organ, director) A Christmas Concert with the Avres Serva ensemble, Nuno Oliveira (organ and director), Pedro Massarrão (cello) and Mariana Castello-Branco (soprano), performing works by Portuguese and Italian composers from the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century at the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon, December 12th 2023.(Supplied EBU / Avres Serva. Photographer credit not supplied) Baroque, Chamber Music, Chamber Music, Composer, Early Music, Religious MusicTracklist02:01Played at 02:01In Sabatho Sancto: Lectio 8a ‘Et ideo novi testamenti [08'26]Composer Avres Serva + Mariana Castello-Branco (soprano) + Pedro Massarrão (cello) + Nuno Oliveira (organ & director) Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra + Bavarian Radio Chorus Works for Clarinet and Orchestra: Copland, Mozart & Kats-Chernin, CHAN 10756 Goldner String Quartet + Piers Lane (piano) Bridge: Piano Quintet; String Quartet No. 4; Three Idylls, CDA67726 The Vienna Boys' Choir: The Definitive Christmas Album New Philharmonia Orchestra + Joan Sutherland (soprano) Download the ABC listen app for free music podcasts and playlists The environmental association ZERO recognized 59 Zero Pollution beaches in 31 municipalities on the mainland and islands of Madeira and the Azores ZERO – Associação Sistema Terrestre Sustentável reveals that the objective achieved this year “is truly what is desired on a European scale within the framework of the European Ecological Pact in particular within the scope of the Action Plan for Zero Pollution” with the municipalities of São Roque do Pico having the largest number of beaches – four – recognized are also among the leading municipalities in the number of Zero Pollution beaches Zero Pollution beaches represent 9% of the total of 664 existing bathing waters five more beaches compared to the 54 classified in 2023 All beaches considered last year as Zero Pollution beaches are classified as beaches with “excellent” water quality at the expense of a single analysis where it was Once the presence of microorganisms was detected they could no longer be considered Zero Pollution beaches” the environmental association highlights the fact that this year there will be 21 Zero Pollution Beaches in the Autonomous Region of the Azores “Another relevant aspect is that for the first time there are two inland beaches classified as Zero Pollution beaches – Santa Clara Sabugal and Santa Cruz da Graciosa – also became part of the municipalities with at least one Zero Pollution beach According to the environmental association there is the highlight of the municipality of Albufeira which “despite having twenty five beaches that should be validated with an excellent classification” in terms of water quality had its six beaches Zero Pollution 2023 removed from the list this year due to “at least one analysis on each of these beaches that had an extremely low upper value 19 beaches left last year’s list and 24 new ones added Torres Vedras and Vila Real de Santo António are no longer represented A Zero Pollution beach is one where no microbiological contamination was detected in the analyzes carried out on the bathing water over the last three bathing seasons Environmentalists point out that it is “extremely difficult” to achieve an unharmed record over three years in inland bathing areas “much more susceptible to microbiological pollution” “With the exception of two inland beaches This fact is an indicator of how much remains to be done to ensure good water quality in rivers and streams in Portugal which requires additional efforts in terms of sanitation urban and companies” From Diário Notícias ‘everything flows to the sea’ and about Açores pure waters Well then most be in your own country where the facilities of residues leave a lot to be desired .My advice next time that you visit Madeira or Porto Santo go visit the Agua Residuais Porto Santo https://arm.pt/aguas-residuais/ Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email Santa Luzia Sanctuary / Flickr/Creative commonsLet the purity of the Minho region take away all the tension and stress from your body so you can enjoy a peaceful and romantic weekend with the person you love most. The Praça da República with its beautiful fountain marks the centre of the city and we recommend that you walk through the streets of the historic oldtown. Enjoy the buildings inspired by Manueline, Renaissance, Baroque and even modernist styles. When you want to appreciate the nature of Minho and the best view that Viana do Castelo has to offer, we recommend that you go towards the Sanctuary of Santa Luzia: the view over the city and the mouth of the Lima River is magnificent. If you still have any doubts about the romanticism of Viana do Castelo, just remember that the symbol of the city is a heart. Palácio da Pena / Flickr/Creative commonsIf you've always dreamed of living in the middle of a fairy tale, Sintra is the place to be. There are loads of points of interest in this charming city, but our highlights include the seductive Quinta da Regaleira, the colourful Palácio da Pena and the captivating Chalet and Jardim da Condessa d'Edla. Another obligatory destination to enjoy with your other half is Cabo da Roca: contemplate the westernmost point of Europe at sunset and let love speak up itself. If you're a fan of Portuguese pastries you'll have to try the famous queijadas from Sintra, which will certainly sweeten your stay. Alcobaça Monastery / Flickr/Creative commonsIn the district of Leiria, several cities and towns stand out for their charm, with Alcobaça being just one of them. The greatest selling point of this city is the splendid Monastery of Alcobaça, classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Its imposing façade already attracts your attention, but going inside is a spectacular way to truly appreciate all its architecture and beauty. We also recommend that you visit the various gardens, parks and lakes of the city, which are the perfect setting for a romantic walk. View of Viseu / Wikimedia commonsViseu is one of the Portuguese cities with the best quality of life. It is the perfect holiday destination to leave behind the daily stress and have a weekend of passion. Explore Viseu from the city centre outwards, where you can enjoy the narrow, medieval streets with their many shops. Take the opportunity to visit Rua Direita or Rua Escura streets and see 16th century houses which preserve their original Gothic style, complete with gargoyles. An absolute must while you’re there is a visit to the Adro da Sé church, which is surely the most interesting landmark in the city. If what you're looking for is nature, however, we recommend you take a walk or cycle around the Ecopista do Dão, a 30-mile cycle track complete with lush, green spaces. Access to culture in Portugal is even easier with 46 cultural venues opening their doors for free every day announced a measure that is completely changing access to culture in the country: from now on all residents in Portugal will be able to enter 46 cultural spaces churches and libraries under the management of the company Museus e Monumentos de Portugal Until now it was possible to visit these cultural spaces on Sundays and public holidays, so this measure considerably increases this possibility Each resident in Portugal will have free access to 52 entrances per year, the equivalent of one entrance per week, any day of the week. This count should be carried out via a mobile app (which is not yet available), making these visits simpler and more efficient, both for citizens and for registering in these spaces. However, until then, all you have to do is show your Citizen’s Card at the ticket offices of these cultural spaces to get your free entry. In Lisbon, which is the city with the largest number of publicly-run cultural facilities, 18 venues will be covered by this measure: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lisboa Secreta (@lisboasecreta) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lisboa Secreta (@lisboasecreta) If you’ve already visited all of these in Lisbon there are other very interesting possibilities throughout the country This ease of access to these sites will have a huge impact on cultural inclusion allowing more people to explore and discover our historical Portugal is thus taking another important step towards democratizing access to culture which will benefit not only residents but also domestic tourists