The project Recovery and Valorisation of the Roman Ruins of the City of Ammaia, a forgotten national monument, promoted by the City of Ammaia Foundation, is the winner of the 2009 Vasco Vilalva Award for the recovery and valorisation of heritage. Of the nine applications submitted, the jury unanimously recognised this project, underlining “the great historical, patrimonial and technical-scientific relevance of the project for the recovery and valorisation of an archaeological site that is unique in Portugal”.

The Roman city of Ammaia was founded in the late 1st century BC and survived as an urban centre for six centuries. Located a short distance from the village of Marvão, these ruins are one of the most significant examples of Roman civilisation in northern Alentejo. The City of Ammaia Foundation was legally established in 1997 with the aim of preserving the ruins. It owns the land on which most of the ruins are located. Since then, the scientific coordination of the archaeological work has been carried out by the University of Évora, and as a result of this intervention, it is now possible to see an important monumental complex in the ruins of Ammaia, including the Forum, the main centre of political, economic, social and religious life in the region, as well as a thermal complex with several associated structures.

The Monographic Museum of the City of Ammaia was established at the archaeological site, featuring two exhibitions with materials collected over time in the city. In parallel with the excavation and museumisation work, the Foundation also proceeded, with the support of the National Museum of Archaeology, to set up a Conservation and Restoration Laboratory, equipped with the latest technology, making this structure one of the best equipped in our country today. This laboratory will enable the conservation of practically all the finds from Ammaia and will be open to other entities, even for the development of training-related work.

The City of Ammaia Foundation has been active mainly at the local and regional level, but also at the national and international level, through the establishment of various partnerships with educational and public institutions. In the future, the Foundation also intends to implement a network linked to archaeological patrimony, demonstrating the role that the city of Ammaia played in Roman times, allowing for the establishment of a territorial vision that encompasses a large part of the territory of Northern Alentejo.

The Vasco Vilalva Award, worth €50,000, is presented annually by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to recognise outstanding achievements in the field of heritage conservation. It will be presented on 9 March at 11:00 in the auditorium of the Serra de São Mamede Natural Park – Quinta dos Olhos d’Água, in Marvão. On this occasion, those responsible will present the projects of the City of Ammaia Foundation that are currently underway, in the presence of the Countess of Vilalva, the president of the Board of Trustees of the City of Ammaia Foundation, Carlos Melancia, the president of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Emílio Rui Vilar, and the administrator Teresa Gouveia.