Restoration of statuary, funerary monuments and placement of new monuments in Angra do Heroísmo

In the context of the option and strategy of Angra do Heroísmo City Hall, of valuation and management of municipal monuments, conservation and restoration works of statuary in public spaces and funerary monuments, as well as the inauguration of new monuments are in progress. This is another project of great importance for the cultural growth of Angra society and for the disclosure of the rich history of the city of Angra do Heroísmo.

The restoration of the statues of Blessed João Baptista Machado, Álvaro Martins Homem and D. António Prior do Crato, obeying rigorous scientific criteria, intends to keep the evocation of the figures’ memories, through art in the streets of Angra do Heroísmo, making it possible to better understand the city’s journey through time.

The placement of monuments in public spaces, like the sphinx of Rui Teles Palhinha, in the Jardim Duque da Terceira, and the tile panel of Lieutenant Coronel José Agostinho, in the Jardim with the same name, that come in the sequence of other monuments, that in a recent past, were inaugurated, like the statues to the navigator Vasco da Gama and to the King D. Afonso VI, or the monument to Teotónio de Ornelas Bruges, honours and makes known important personalities of the history of Agra do Heroísmo.

More than a place to mourn the loss of someone and expressions of nostalgia, cemeteries have become representative places of a culture that praises the importance of life through the ornamentation of graves and tombs. The struggle for the perpetuation of memory is, moreover, the very essence of the monument. Funerary art appears then, not only in the service of death, but also in the service of memory. In this scope, Angra do Heroísmo is proceeding to a careful intervention of restoration and cleaning of the gravestones of historical and patrimonial relevance of the Livramento Cemetery. The work started by the grave of the notable liberal, Francisco António de Araújo e Azevedo.

The ongoing project aims to create better conditions of access to cultural assets through the rehabilitation, safeguard, conservation, restoration and enhancement of various monuments located in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, whose history and importance are of the utmost relevance to the culture and identity of Angrenses.