The House (Museum)
The House (Museum)
The House (Museum)
The House of Aníbal and Teresa Milhais was much more than a simple village “house” – three generations of the Family spent there, in which many were raised, born, grew up and died.
More than the “family shelter”, the House of Aníbal and Teresa was the “society village centre” of Valongo de Milhais – open to everyone, without any discrimination of ethnicity, origin, age or gender.
The doors of this House were always open to the most needy, offering them food and sleep, be it the pregnant woman without much support, or the gypsy, or the tramp, the acquaintance who came from afar or the neighbour close by…
No one was left without soup or a piece of bread with bacon or a bowl of wine to satisfy their hunger.
Come in, you are welcome whoever you are
All who passed through this House and who often slept in it felt the Christian fraternity and humanity faithfully followed, with humility and dedication, by Aníbal and Teresa, with the traditional expression of Welcome “Entre quem É” – “Come in, you are welcome whoever you are”
All who passed through this House and who often slept in it felt the Christian fraternity and humanity faithfully followed, with humility and dedication, by Aníbal and Teresa, with the traditional expression of Welcome “Entre quem É” – “Come in, you are welcome whoever you are”.
The Museum House was a renovation carried out in 2021 by Architect Filipe Teles of the original house of Aníbal Milhais, in which the exterior layout was followed, with the interior being adapted to the museum nucleus that can be visited in Valongo de Milhais.
This construction is part of the “Valorizar Program of Turismo de Portugal” and was an initiative of the Municipality of Murça in close collaboration with the Family that ceded the old property and land for this museum space purpose.
The Soldier Millions Museum House is divided into three areas – at the entrance we have the Man (Aníbal Milhais and his Family) and the Territory (from Murça and Trás-os-Montes), with objects from the daily life of the farmer.
We pass through the corridor, as if transported from Flanders to the second area.
In this one, we have the Hero and the History (of the Great War) with its context, both at world level, such as the Portuguese participation, the event of La Lys and the Feat of Aníbal Milhais that would give it the nickname “of Millions”.
The exhibition is made up of explanatory panels, using a model of a trench as well as various period objects and the wax and silicone figure of the “Soldier Millions” (as he would eventually be equipped on April 9, 1918) with his “Luizinha” (the Lewis gun).
On the second floor we have the third area for temporary exhibitions.
The space was inaugurated on the 10th of April 2023 (105 years plus one day since the event of the 9th of April 1918) by His Excellency the President of the Portuguese Republic, Professor Doctor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, with the presence of the senior leaders of the Portuguese Army as well as the President of the Municipality of Murça Mário Correia Lopes and other national and regional entities.
The entire village of Valongo de Milhais was present at this memorable moment of fair and heartfelt homage to the “Son of the Land”.
It can be visited within the opening hours or by appointment – we are waiting for you!
“Come in, you are welcome whoever you are”!
The Man
Aníbal Augusto Milhões – the origins, the Family, the customs.
The Territory
The Human and Natural Heritage, the typical products, the landscape, the stories.
The Hero
The Deed, the recognition – His Place in the History
© 2023 Cultunatura Lda.