Around 50,000 people have visited the Salgueiro Maia Citizenship House in Castelo de Vide (Portalegre district) since it was inaugurated on July 1, 2021, the mayor told the Lusa news agency today.
The space evocative of this captain of April, located in the castle of the Alentejo county seat, a state heritage site, is the result of a project by the municipality of Castelo de Vide and the Alentejo Regional Directorate of Culture (DRCAlentejo).
“It’s currently reaching 50,000 visitors, so it’s a nice number, considering that it’s a museum in the interior of the country and in a place that’s somewhat difficult to access, as it’s inside the castle,” the mayor told Lusa.
António Pita also pointed out that the majority of these visitors are Portuguese, followed by Spanish tourists, “for geographical reasons”, but also visitors from Brazil, the United States of America and the Netherlands.
“The Portuguese go to the Salgueiro Maia Citizenship House precisely for evocative reasons, for reasons of memory, especially former combatants, other people go out of admiration for the personality, the great example of Salgueiro Maia, the great example he left for the country,” he said.
Tourists from other countries, on the other hand, according to António Pita, visit the museum “more curious to know who was one of the protagonists of April 25”.
The equipment has also received “more and more” schoolchildren from all over the country and the bookings for future visits by educational establishments are “very enthusiastic”.
On July 1, 2021, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, inaugurated the Salgueiro Maia Citizenship House, an investment of three million euros.
The space houses several pieces by Salgueiro Maia, including the well-known megaphone with which, on April 25, 1974, in Largo do Carmo, the then captain summoned Marcello Caetano to surrender.
The museum space also displays the uniform and the military “quico” he wore that day, among other uniforms, mottos, banners, flags, insignia, diplomas and commendations, military documents and school records belonging to Salgueiro Maia.
An area with posters and photographs and a collection of miniature combat cars, the military officer’s specialty as a cavalry officer and his great professional passion are other features.
Fernando Salgueiro Maia (1944-1992) was the commander of the military column from the Escola Prática de Cavalaria (EPC), in Santarém, which in the revolution occupied Praça do Comércio and surrounded the Carmo Barracks in Lisbon, leading to the surrender of the then President of the Council, Marcello Caetano, and the definitive fall of the Estado Novo dictatorship.
Born in Castelo de Vide, the captain of April expressed two wishes in his will, which were fulfilled: to be buried in that town, in a shallow grave, and to leave his estate to the municipality to be museumized.
