The municipality of Bragança plans to redevelop Monte de São Bartolomeu and build an overlook near the statue of Saint Benedict, a landmark area of the city, and to create safe verges on the Estrada do Turismo, it was revealed today.
In statements to Lusa, the city council president Isabel Ferreira noted that there is a project for the “valorization of the entire area of Monte de São Bartolomeu, the Estrada do Turismo and São Bento”.
Therefore, a protocol was signed between the municipality and the Cathedral Chapter, responsible for the São Bartolomeu chapel and surrounding area, to be able to intervene in the entire zone.
The execution of the project will cost around 3.4 million euros. For now, the municipality will submit an application for European funds, amounting to 800 thousand euros, to co-finance the works.
“During this year we will surely open the tender [public tender for the works],” guaranteed Isabel Ferreira.
According to the mayor, the project consists of the construction of a “platform” next to the statue of Saint Benedict, creating a viewpoint, the requalification of the well-known viewpoint in front of the São Bartolomeu chapel and “intervention on the staircase that is all degraded”.
It also provides for the recovery of the support house for the chapel, which will serve as toilets and a bar, and the installation of lighting, which “does not exist” at the moment.
Isabel Ferreira also added that there will be intervention on the Estrada do Turismo, with improvements to the verges and the installation of safety fencing, to enable “pedestrian strolls,” since, currently, “pedestrians cannot circulate there and, therefore, cannot enjoy those natural viewpoints.”
“São Bartolomeu has long been a dynamic area, but over the years there has been immense degradation and even exposure to vandalism, as happened on the staircase, and also undesirable activities there in that square; therefore, our aim is to valorize that space, improve it (…) it offers those fantastic views of the city of Bragança, but also because within the parish of Samil it can provide excellent infrastructures for a picnic park and recreational areas,” the president of the municipality stressed.
Monte de São Bartolomeu sits on a high point of Bragança, with a panoramic view of the city, where there is a chapel, a support house, substantial vegetation and a large statue, Saint Benedict, which attracts many curious visitors.
