José Coelho / Lusa
Pedro Duarte with President António José Seguro during the São João celebrations, in Porto
The Bloc launched an alert about the degradation of heritage in Porto after the illegal demolition of the interior of the old Confeitaria Serrana. The Chamber guarantees that it has not received any notice from UNESCO. Loss of classification can only occur if the heritage loses the characteristics that justified it.
The Mayor of Porto, Pedro Duarterejected that the city’s historic center is at risk of losing its World Heritage status, asserting that it had never been contacted by UNESCO on this topic.
Speaking at the Alfândega do Porto, on Tuesday, minutes before the fireworks display for the São João festival, Pedro Duarte assured that the chamber is “follow very intensely” the relationship with UNESCO “which has been in place for 30 years”.
Asked if the council received any warning signals from UNESCO, the mayor replied: “no, strictly none”.
“Us We have permanent contact with UNESCO and, therefore, we are getting information, we are exchanging information, sometimes we are asked for information, we give information and, therefore, we have no reason to think that this will happen”, continued Pedro Duarte.
“We have absolute notion of what is happening“, assured the mayor.
The council of Porto do Bloco de Esquerda warned this Tuesday of the risk of the city’s Historic Center lose rank of World Heritage of Humanity, given the “continuous degradation of heritage” in this perimeter.
Blockers reacted to news about the old Serrana Confectioneryon Rua do Loureiro, close to São Bento Station. According to the newspaper, the interior of the building was demolished without this intervention being foreseen in the licensing of the work, with only the facade remaining standing.
The property belongs to the businessman Avelino Pedro Pintoowner of Livraria Lello and linked to Grupo Lionesa. To Público, the owner assured that the main heritage elements have been preserved and should be replaced in the new project, signed by architect Álvaro de Leite Siza.
Among the elements kept safe are a painting by Acácio Lino, dating from 1911, sculptures by José de Oliveira Ferreira and metal structures, including the old mezzanine, from the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th century.
Even so, the Porto Chamber considered at the time that the demolition of the interior constitutes a non-compliance with licensingand announced steps to restore urban legality.
The municipality also regretted the “loss of integrity of heritage valuesartistic and decorative” of the old confectionery, considering that the possible replacement of the most relevant elements it just mitigates the loss.
“We intend to give it a different boostwhich is the way we are looking and want to look at the historic center, namely that area that was classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO 30 years ago”, said Pedro Duarte this Tuesday.
The social-democratic mayor said he wanted, in his mandate, to “reverse the trend” of departure of people born in the historic center of the city area, and maintain “tourism balanced with local identity”.
O Historic Center of Porto It was a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, in a classification today called “Porto Historic Center, Luiz I Bridge and Serra do Pilar Monastery”.
UNESCO justified the classification by exceptional value of the urban fabric history, of streets, buildings and monuments that bear witness to more than a thousand years of occupation and transformation of the city.
The classified area is 51 hectares and includes some of the most emblematic elements of the urban front facing the Douro, being surrounded by a buffer zone of 186 hectares.
The distinction does not only protect isolated propertiesbut an urban complex whose authenticity and integrity also depend on the preservation of the scale, uses, materials and historical memory of the places.
A loss of classification is not automatic nor does it result from an isolated case. Before that, a good can be inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Dangerif the World Heritage Committee identifies serious threats to its outstanding universal value, such as continued degradationdevelopment projects with a negative impact or insufficiencies in the protection and management of the site.
