National Archives - Torre do Tombo

First Day Cover with set of stamps

Souvenir sheet

Archive of Torre do Tombo dates back to the thirteenth century, but only appears documented in 1378, the year that the actual file was installed in the castle of St. George. The fact that they have been deposited in it the ancient book of "Recabedo Regni," made ​​will now be referred as the "Torre do Tombo," popularized in the time of designation D. John I, and said that in time, identifying currently one of the oldest institutions of Portugal. 

Documentation File of the House of the Crown or Royal Archive was the primitive core of the Torre do Tombo. With similar functions to a file of our day, kept all documentation relating to the Treasury (Finance), the books of the royal chancellery (Records of the governing activity), the charters, boundaries of the bumps (Property Records), the sentences of Made Judge of the Crown, certificates of institution morgados and chapels, wills, documents resulting from acts of diplomacy (the marriage treaties of peace, limits, division of the world for its exploration), the documents produced in scope of the maritime expansion. It also included the documentation "of the parties" - legal and natural persons - upon request addressed to the king, obtained permission to trust the Torre do Tombo custody of some of its documents, originals or certified copies, guaranteeing the reliability of the documents submitted and allowing the exercise of rights.

On November 1, 1755, the tower collapsed during the earthquake. The documentation was gathered from the debris, and stored temporarily in a wooden shack, built in the Plaza de Armas. On 26 and 27 August 1757, was transferred temporarily to a part of the building of the Monastery of St. Benedict's Health This situation continued until the inauguration of the new and modern facilities existing in 1990, located in University Mall.

The Liberalism brought a new wave of mergers documentation extinct institutions, pointing out the file and the convents of the Holy Office of the Court, commonly known as Archive of the Inquisition. This line is part of the publication of the Decree of 2 October 1862, which led to the incorporation of documents prior to 1600, with the oldest dating from the ninth century (882), witnessing experiences and events prior to the founding of Portuguese nationality.

With the establishment of the Republic, the National Archives, was under the responsibility of the Directorate General of Education, the Ministry of the Kingdom, and stressed the role of conservation and enhancement of the manuscripts, then absorbing the parish books, with particular emphasis on baptismal records , marriage and death which today constitutes one of the best sources for knowledge of the Portuguese population.

In 1992, Decree-Law No. 106-G/92, 1 June, there was the merger of the Torre do Tombo Institute File Portuguese, established in 1988 to coordinate national policy file.

Decree-Law No. 93/2007 of March 29, creates under the Ministry of Culture, General Directorate of Archives (DGARQ), succeeding this far in assignments entrusted to the Institute of the National Archives / Torre do Tombo (IAN / TT) and the Portuguese Centre for Photography (CPF) that were abolished and merged, maintaining however their identities.

This reform is understood to recover the identity of the National Archives of Torre do Tombo, giving it new powers in the management of electronic archives, along with the explicit mandate to enforce the law establishing the foundations of the political regime and the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage in its strand of papers and photographic heritage.

A cultural heritage to be shared by all
funds held by the Torre do Tombo, more than 1,000 funds documentary, occupying about 90 km long, especially because universal collection "Body Chronological "composed of 83,000 documents that have recently joined the list of UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, which is equivalent to the brand of World Heritage.
The Directorate General of Archives and National Archives of Torre do Tombo have online databases http://digitarq.dgarq.gov.pt/ with about 1,500 documents and records of 7,000,000 images, free access to all domestic and foreign users.
Silvestre Lacerda de Almeida

Directorate General of Archives
National Archives of Torre Tombo

Stamps

€0,32 - Leitura Nova, Livro 4 de Além-Douro: “Quarto da comarca d Alem Doyro. Leytura d el Rey Dom Joham segundo e d el Rey Dom Afonso quinto e d el Rey Duarte". Pergaminho, 1513-08-10.
€0,68 - Carta de fundação da Igreja de Lardosa. Pergaminho, 882-06-27 (fundo/background);
Leitura Nova, Livro 4 de Além-Douro:“Quarto da comarca d Alem Doyro. Leytura d el Rey Dom Joham segundo e d el Rey Dom Afonso quinto e d el Rey Duarte". Pergaminho, 1513-08-10.
€2,00 - Carta de fundação da Igreja de Lardosa. Pergaminho, 882-06-27

Souvenir sheet
Edifício do Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, foto Fernando Guerra;
Atestado, mandado fazer por D. Dinis, no qual se certifica que se tinha pescado um solho, de grandes dimensões, no Tejo, perto de Santarém. Pergaminho, 1321-02-06 (fundo/background)

Carta de fundação da Igreja de Lardosa. Pergaminho, 882-06-27.

Technical Details

Date of Issue: 12 July 2011

Values: Stamps of €0,32; €0,68 and €2,00  + miniature sheet with one stamp of €2,30

Designer: José Brandão/Susana Brito

Printer: Joh. Enschedé

Process: 4-colour offset lithography

Size: stamps 30.6 mm x 40.0 mm; souvenir sheets 125mm x 95 mm

Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13

Paper: FSC 110g/m2

Watermark:

Sheet: sheets of 50 stamps