Museum of Rural Work

Category: Civil Architecture > Museum

District: Setúbal > Santiago do Cacém > Abela > União das Freguesias de Santiago do Cacém, Santa Cruz e Koina

Location

Abela is a locality integrated into the Union of Parishes of Santiago do Cacém, Santa Cruz and Koina, in the municipality of Santiago do Cacém. The Rural Labor Museum is located in the heart of this village, in a building that, throughout the 20th century, played crucial roles in the community, serving as a school, medical post, and even a barracks for the National Republican Guard. Its location reflects the museum's strong connection to the rural environment it documents.

A Portal to Rural Memory

This museum is a space dedicated to preserving the memory of a rural past that deeply shaped the territory of Santiago do Cacém. Upon entering, a thought from the writer Miguel Torga welcomes the visitor: "The Alentejo always reminds me of an immense sundial, where Man acts as the hand of Time". This poetic quote underlines the essence of what the museum offers: a journey through time, where the protagonist is the tireless work of men and women who transformed vast heathlands into fields of grain, cultivating a unique relationship with the land.

The Tools of Rural Life

The central core of the exhibition is titled "Memory and Identity, Traditional Agricultural Implements". Here, visitors follow the annual agricultural cycle, from winter plowing and sowing, through the care of spring harvests, to the reaping, threshing, and storage of cereals in summer. Displayed in detail are the agricultural implements, tools often carved by the hands of farmers from local woods and refined by blacksmiths. Plows, harrows, hoes, sickles, and flails, accompanied by harnessing and transport systems, reveal the ingenuity and hardship of rural life from other eras.

A Legacy for the Future

The Rural Labor Museum serves as a link between generations, allowing the memories of rural daily life to be shared and understood. Through photographs documenting agricultural work and the opportunity to interact with cereals such as wheat, barley, or rice in husk, the museum offers an immersive experience. It is a place where the heritage of rural Alentejo becomes tangible, inviting a close look at the knowledge, traditions, and ways of life that, although constantly transforming, continue to define the identity of this land and its people.

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