The process initiated by the CCDR aims to safeguard a heritage site that “marks a milestone in the region’s healthcare history and exemplifies modernist healthcare architecture in the south of the country”.
São Brás de Alportel Sanatorium is in the process of being designated as a heritage site of public interest. The application for this designation was initiated by the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR), through the Culture Unit, in collaboration with the Municipality of São Brás de Alportel, and is now awaiting review and a final decision by the Cultural Heritage Commission.
This initiative aims to recognise the historical, architectural, and social importance of this unique building, whose memory is deeply linked to the fight against tuberculosis in the 20th century.
Built in the early decades of the last century, on September 8, 1918, at the initiative of physician Carlos Vasconcelos Porto, a national figure in the fight against tuberculosis and in organising railway health services in Portugal, the Sanatorium represented an innovative response to public health in Portugal, reflecting the therapeutic guidelines of the time.
The building stands out for its functionalist architecture, integration with the landscape, and its symbolic importance to the local and regional community.
The CCDR ALGARVE, through its Cultural Unit, emphasises that “the classification of the São Brás de Alportel Sanatorium is a step towards ensuring the preservation of a heritage site that represents not only a milestone in the history of healthcare in the region, but also an example of modernist healthcare architecture in the south of the country.”
As part of its mission, the CCDR ALGARVE, through its Cultural Unit and in collaboration with the Municipalities, is dedicated to integrating this process into a broader strategy for promoting local heritage, with the Sanatorium Building regarded as a key element in the collective memory and territorial identity of the Algarve mountain region.
