CCDR wants classification of the sanatorium of São Brás de Alportel

The Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) has requested Cultural Heritage to classify the São Brás de Alportel sanatorium as a heritage site of public interest, it was announced this Monday.

The proposal was presented by the Culture unit of the CCDR of the Algarve, in conjunction with the municipality of São Brás de Alportel, in the district of Faro, and aims to highlight a “unique building”, used at the beginning of the last century to treat tuberculosis patients, the organization explained in a statement.

The classification of the São Brás de Alportel sanatorium, built in the first decades of the 20th century, “ now goes to the Cultural Heritage, IP [Public Institute] for assessment and final decision ”, clarified the CCDR of the Algarve.

"This initiative aims to recognize the historical, architectural, and social importance of this unique building, whose memory is deeply linked to the fight against tuberculosis in the 20th century," the Algarve regional commission highlighted.

The CCDR stated that the sanatorium began operating in 1918, “on the initiative of doctor Carlos Vasconcelos Porto, a national figure of reference in the fight against tuberculosis and in the organization of railway health services in Portugal.”

The health unit was created in São Brás de Alportel, in the Algarve mountains, to provide tuberculosis patients with an “innovative response in the context of public health in Portugal” and to incorporate the most current therapeutic practices at the time, he said.

“The building stands out for its functionalist architecture, landscape integration, and symbolic importance for the local and regional population,” argued the CCDR.

The classification of this heritage site will guarantee the preservation of a building considered a landmark in the history of healthcare in the region and which symbolizes modernist healthcare architecture in the south of the country, according to the Algarve commission.

The CCDR's Culture unit stressed that the proposed classification of the sanatorium is part of a "broader strategy to enhance local heritage," which also encompasses heritage and relies on the collaboration of municipalities in the Faro district, it stressed.

The São Brás de Alportel sanatorium building is also a “central element in the collective memory and territorial identity of the Algarve mountain region” where it is located, the note continues.

São Brás de Alportel is located approximately 20 kilometers north of the city of Faro and the municipality's territory is part of the Serra do Caldeirão mountain range, with the natural surroundings being one of the factors that led to the choice of location for that sanatorium, now in the process of being classified.