Contacts
Rua 5 de Outubro, 40-44
7920-368 Vila Nova da Baronia
(Alvito)
Portugal
WHO WE ARE
ALENTEJO
They say everything takes longer here. That everything is calm. That everything is slow.
We say we're on the right side of life. In the right rhythm of existence.
There are 300 days of sunshine a year.
Silence here is not bothersome.
In the heart of the Alentejo region, housed in a restored, century-old grocery store with its doors open to the street, we have developed a range of activities which we call Spira Lab – a laboratory for heritage experiences, open to all.
Having started with the Rota do Fresco Project at the end of the last century, we have progressed from Cultural and Landscape Tourism to Heritage Education , from Traditional Techniques geared towards the future to the strong involvement of the entire Community , experimenting and allowing others to experience endless Cultural Heritage: we create, shuffle and give again, we care for, welcome and share in depth the heritage, culture, gastronomy, Arts & Crafts and sustainable practices of our territory – the Alentejo.
It is precisely these ways of engaging with Alentejo culture that we propose at Spira LAB, a laboratory for heritage experiences, open to all.
Spira LAB is a Spira project - heritage revitalization.
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A territory shaped by such a particular "way of being" where leisure, human scale, sustainability, light, tranquility, and fundamental beauty still prevail.
Spira COMMUNITY
Because we believe that we all have responsibilities towards our community: workshops with local artisans, community dinners, roundtables, and Portuguese classes for foreigners, all on a pro bono basis and in the hope of contributing to vibrant spaces and communities of learning, culture, and conviviality.
Spira FRESH ROUTE
The Rota do Fresco® (Fresco Route) emerged as a heritage-based territorial development project: visits and entry to otherwise inaccessible buildings, fresco painting workshops, and Heritage Camps – International Volunteering in Cultural Heritage are some of the main actions of the first cultural tourism route in Portugal.
SPIRA EQUIPMENT
The Spira Universe also includes two pieces of equipment that reflect everything we believe in: appreciation, simplicity, and sharing.
Casa Spira is a traditional Alentejo house, open to anyone who wants to experience Spira LAB activities in a "shared house" setting and enrich their community experience; or, alternatively, to anyone who has new ideas and positive energy to offer our community in exchange for safe accommodation.
Mercearia Spira , in turn, continues the tradition of the village's people's grocery store, now offering Culture, a vibrant space for teamwork and renewed encounters: workshops, training, language classes and sharing of traditional knowledge, in an environment always open to creativity and collaboration.
Mercearia and Casa Spira, like Spira itself, are open to new ideas, people, and projects.
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