In the year that marks the 110th anniversary of the arrival of the first train at Vila Real de Santo António, the council has launched a programme of events to celebrate the city linking up with the rest of Portugal.
An exhibition, ‘A look at the railways in the Algarve’ is being held in the Arquivo Histórico Municipal António Rosa Mendes, until May 31st described as a journey through the past and present of the railway.
Through testimonies, documentaries and oral materials, visitors are taken on a journey through the history of the railway, which came to Faro in 1889 and to VRSA in 1906, events that are seen as determining factors in the development of the Algarve.
At the Centro de Investigação e Informação do Património de Cacela, guests can see another exhibition titled, ‘Loading quays’ put together by Ovelha Negra Colectivo, running until April 30th. This exhibition displays a set of prints from Portugal’s railway history.
The 110th anniversary date of the arrival of the train to VRSA is the 14th of April and the historian Hugo Cavaco, who has written a book titled " 1899 – Deverá o comboio chegar a Vila Real de Santo António?” will be giving a talk at the Arquivo Histórico Municipal at 18.00.
There will be a tour of local railway memorabilia and equipment on April 17th at 9:30am conducted by historian Marco Lopes, director of the Municipal Museum of Faro. A train ride to Cacela is included.
On Friday, April 22, at 18:00, there will be a talk at the Arquivo Histórico Municipal by António Rosa Mendes who will bring together an important collection of research on the history of tourism in relation to the arrival of the train in the Algarve.
Between the 9th and 20th of May, the town hall will be holding an exhibition of stamps on the theme of the arrival of the train to VRSA.
