“Today we celebrate Aveiro, we celebrate our masters, and we celebrate a legacy that we want to protect for the future,” stated Luís Souto, acknowledging UNESCO’s decision announced in New Delhi, India, as “a historic moment for the Aveiro region and for Portugal.”
The mayor, who is also the vice president of the Intermunicipal Community of the Aveiro Region (CIRA), responded to UNESCO’s decision to include the naval carpentry art of Aveiro, exemplified by moliceiro boats, on the list of intangible heritage in urgent need of safeguarding.
“This international recognition reinforces what we have always advocated: the moliceiro is a unique expression of our identity, a result of the talent and dedication of generations of master builders who keep the art of naval carpentry in Ria alive,” noted the president of the Aveiro City Council.
The initiative was promoted by CIRA and developed in close collaboration with master builders, painters, regional municipalities, cultural and educational entities, and tourism operators connected to the Ria, with technical support from IPDT – Portuguese Institute of Tourism Development.
One distinctive feature of the moliceiro boats is the paintings on the stern and aft: “The bow is the monumental part of the moliceiro, where figures, drawings, and captions are exclusive, unmatched in any known type of navigation,” wrote Jaime Vilar in a book dedicated to this vessel.
In this work, he classifies the captions on the bow as “satirical, humorous, and erotic,” “religious,” “romantic, playful, and roguish,” “professional, moral, and historical.”
The author, based on data collected from artisans, describes that a moliceiro measures, on average, 15 meters in length, displaces about five tons, and has a flat bottom with a shallow draft, a detail that allows it to navigate where keel boats cannot pass.
In the 1970s, there were 3,000 moliceiro boats registered in the Ria de Aveiro. Currently, only 50 vessels remain, half of which are used for tourist exploration in the urban channels of the Ria.
