Movimento de Patrimonialização e a Emergência de Novas Procuras de Nobilitação Rural

Abstract

During the last few decades, an increase in the demand for, consumption of and visits to the Portuguese countryside has been witnessed essentially on the part of the urban or rather, the non-rural population. This increase is tied up with the changes contemporary society in general and the rural areas in particular are undergoing. It is the outcome of the consolidation of a mode of production and appropriation of the rural space as a consumer good and as common heritage. The rural space has asserted itself as a reserve of environmental resources and goods as well as a storehouse of memory and cultural heritage.  The aim of this brief essay is to try and understand how reinventing and idealising country life in the past, throws light on the principle of patrimonialisation through rediscovering new roles (a second life brought about by rural gentrification). This process is sustained by means of inventing, staging and simulating a local feature and by contriving historical continuity inherent to rural spaces, thus providing the basis for cultivating new residential demands.