Mozambique, Portugal and Mota-Engil to rehabilitate the Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Baluarte

Moçambique, Portugal e Mota-Engil vão reabilitar a Capela de Nossa Senhora do Baluarte

The governments of Mozambique and Portugal and the construction company Mota-Engil signed a memorandum of understanding this Wednesday for the rehabilitation of the Chapel of Our Lady of Baluarte, on Mozambique Island, the oldest masonry building on the Indian coast.

The Minister of Culture, Edelvina Materula, represented Mozambique; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Francisco André, represented Portugal; and Aníbal Leite represented Mota-Engil.

Work is expected to begin in March, but the amount needed to rehabilitate the building has not yet been stipulated. The workforce will be local and the work is expected to take between six and eight months.

According to Aníbal Leite, CEO of Mota-Engil Africa, the infrastructure must be consistent enough to survive bad weather.

The company is going to carry out the work at cost price, as part of its social responsibility actions, Leite explained, quoted by the newspaper EcoSapo.

The chapel is a listed heritage site, the only example of Manueline architecture in Mozambique, a building erected in 1522 by the Portuguese armada on its way to India and which is within the perimeter of the São Sebastião fortress. Last year it celebrated its 500th anniversary.

Ilha de Moçambique was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1991.

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