The Dune

Category: Civil Architecture > Sculpture

District: Aveiro > Aveiro > Aveiro > Misericórdia

Location

The monument "O Marnoto", also known as "To the Salt Worker and the Female Salt Transporter", stands in the locality of Aveiro, more precisely in the Misericórdia area, next to the Pyramids Roundabout. This strategic location, at the city's entrance, grants it the role of a notable gateway, welcoming arrivals and offering a first impression of Aveiro's profound connection to its history and salt traditions.

A Living Homage

This imposing monument, inaugurated in May 1994, is a sincere homage to two central figures in Aveiro's identity: the Marnoto (male salt worker) and the Salineira (female salt transporter). It represents not only individuals but an entire ancestral activity that shaped the region's economy and landscape: the artisanal production of salt. Through its presence, the monument perpetuates the memory of a craft that, although in decline, continues to be an intrinsic part of Aveiro's cultural heritage.

The Art of Salt and Its Guardians

The Marnoto, the salt man, was responsible for the meticulous extraction of artisanal salt, a job that required a deep knowledge of nature's cycles, water, wind, sun, and rain. Since the year 959, this profession, passed down from generation to generation, was of extreme importance to the local and global economy. The work was arduous, marked by the physical effort of stirring the salt beds, breaking, and loading the salt. The Salineira, for her part, performed the vital task of transporting the salt, in heavy wicker baskets, from the salt pans to the warehouses, completing the cycle of this precious "white gold". Both figures were pillars of a community that lived in symbiosis with the salt pans.

Artistic Concept and Symbolism

Created by the artist António Quintas, the monument stands out for its stainless steel structure rising from a concrete base. This base is designed as multiple interconnected pools, evoking the salt pans where the work took place. The pyramidal forms rising from the ensemble symbolize the salt mounds, while the vertical bands represent the old salt warehouses and the typical Costa Nova houses. A central module, with a waterfall, alludes to the sails of the iconic Moliceiro Boat, and the structure's arrangement itself allows a glimpse of the bow and stern of this vessel, completing the visual narrative of the symbiosis between man, salt, and the Ria de Aveiro.

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt