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Castelo da Lousa: Memories of a Submerged Monument – Partnership Museu da Luz/EDIA/CM Moura from 3 February to 28 May

After 20 years have passed since the inauguration of the Alqueva dam and the submersion process and subsequent project to minimize the heritage impact of various archaeological sites, the Museu da Luz inaugurates an exhibition devoted to the archeological site of Castelo da Lousa, classified as a National Monument. Although submerged, Castelo da Lousa and the remains resulting from excavations prior to its submersion continue to be the subject of constant studies. This exhibition is the most recent historical, archaeological and research review of this archaeological site.

Castelo da Lousa, is an archaeological site from the Roman period located in the parish of Luz and is currently submerged by the Alqueva reservoir.
Always known by the population of Luz, who would have given it this name, it was only from the mid-20th century that it was the target of archaeological work.
It was in the 1960s that Afonso do Paço and Joaquim Bação Leal began their first archaeological investigations. These works proved to be fundamental for the classification of the archaeosite as a National Monument in 1970.
Castelo da Lousa would also be the target of archaeological works in two other different periods. In the 80s by the hand of the German archeologist Jurgen Wholl. And at the end of the 1990s, already under the command of EDIA, the archaeosite was the target of several archaeological campaigns, with the aim of maximizing the collection of archaeological remains and the preparation of works to minimize the heritage impacts caused by the construction of the Alqueva dam. and subsequent creation of its reservoir that caused the submersion of this archaeological site.
The remains resulting from the various excavations continue to be studied and the very function of this archaeological site, occupied in the 1st century BC. and I AD, continues to be debated.
The exhibition presented by the Museu da Luz is the most recent state of the art on the subject.