Loulé Islamic Baths received the National Prize for Urban Rehabilitation

The musealization of the Islamic Baths of Loulé received this Tuesday the National Prize for Urban Rehabilitation, in the category of “Best Intervention Less than 1,000 M2”.

Created by Vida Imobiliária and organized by Promevi, the National Prize for Urban Rehabilitation is an initiative that has the high patronage of the President of the Republic and aims to distinguish urban interventions of greater value to society.

The organization seeks to assess the contribution of urban projects to the qualification of cities and their impact on the community, success measured by market acceptance, impact and social value, as well as the ability to induce change in the urban fabric. The tourism sector is also of great importance in the rehabilitation of city centres, attracting new audiences and more consumption.

Designed by the architect Vítor Mestre, specialist in the rehabilitation of architectural heritage, the intervention carried out in the Islamic Baths of Loulé was a work of heritage and tourist enhancement in the heart of the historic center of the city, in Largo D. Pedro I.

It is a public bathing complex from the end of the period of Islamic occupation of the Algarve (it would have operated between the 12th and 13th centuries), having been occupied in the 15th century as a dwelling. In this way, this intervention also intended to enhance the archaeological remains of the noble house from the end of the 15th century and of the medieval and modern wall.

The musealization of the Islamic Baths constituted an intervention of great importance within the scope of what has been the policy of valuing the cultural heritage and allowed to leverage the tourist, economic and social dynamism that has marked the Historic Area of Loulé in recent years.

It should be noted that this is yet another distinction for the Islamic Baths which, last week, received the Prize for “Museography Project” and the Prize for “Safeguard, Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage”, awarded by the Portuguese Association of Museology.

The Islamic Baths are the first step towards the realization of one of the main projects of the Municipality of Loulé: the future Cultural Quarter, in the Historic Area of Loulé.