"What we wanted to convey today is our will and conviction that we must honour history. Because it is in our history and our memory that we find our roots and the foundations that support our future as a community."
This is how the Mayor of Vila Nova de Famalicão marked the completion of the restoration and conservation work on the monument honouring "The Dead of the Great War", located in Praça 9 de Abril.
Mário Passos was speaking yesterday at the ceremony commemorating the 100th anniversary of the monument's inauguration, in the presence of the other members of the municipal executive, various representatives of the Combatants' League, the ADFA - Association of Disabled Members of the Armed Forces and the Portuguese Army.
The mayor pointed to the restoration work as a "good example of preserving and safeguarding our heritage", adding that the municipality will be reissuing two works by famalicense historian Amadeu Gonçalves, published in 2018 during the commemorations of the centenary of the tragic Battle of La Lys - considered one of the greatest military disasters in Portugal's history - and which honour the memory of the more than 500 famalicenses who took part in this battle: "Dicionário dos expedicionários famalicenses" and "A I Guerra Mundial e suas repercussões em Vila Nova de Famalicão".
The mayor of Famalicense also remembered all those who defended "our flag and our country with courage and sacrifice", announcing in this regard that the City Council intends to erect a new memorial in the city in honour of the former overseas combatants.
This Sunday's ceremony was also marked by a visit to the exhibition "100 years of Memories: Monument to the Dead of the Great War", on display in Praça 9 de Abril. Throughout the twelve panels that make up the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the circumstances that led to the First World War and Portugal's entry into this conflict, the emergence of the Portuguese army that fought in the theatre of operations, known as the "Portuguese Expeditionary Corps", many of them from Minho and particularly from Vila Nova de Famalicão, and the tragic Battle of La Lys. The aim is also to explain the factors that led to the construction of this type of memorial throughout the country; the background to its inauguration in Vila Nova de Famalicão; the symbolism it represents, as well as the urban and toponymic revolution that its construction has caused in the place where it is located.
It should be remembered that the decision to build a monument to the dead of World War I was taken at the town council meeting on 9 February 1920, following a circular letter from the Junta Patriótica do Norte, which proposed its construction in all the country's municipalities. The inauguration of this monument led to the last change in the square's name in 1927, when it was renamed Praça 9 de Abril.