Mora Railway Station (Portugal)

On June 14, 2018, the Railway Heritage World Blog went to Mora Railway Station in Portugal. Do you remember the Ecopista Ramal de Mora and its first railway station? Well, this city used to be the last one of this branch.

History and Building

This railway station operated from 1908 until 1987, when its branch was closed. The building had no use for many years (take a look). The design of its reconstruction was made by CVDB Arquitectos Associados; its inauguration happened on September 15, 2016.

Mora was one of the cities in Alentejo rich in archaeological megalithic remains. Due to that, the this railway station became the Interactive Megalithic Museum, a space to exhibit the city impressive rock collection. The complex is constituted by four buildings: the old main building of the railway station, where we could find the reception, a documentation centre, an internet space and the bathrooms; another part of the old railway station, where we could expirience some interactive games; a new building used as a coffee shop and another new building used to the museum exhibition.

These buildings are connected by a continuous gallery, which was supposed to bring in mind the old railway station dock. According to the description gave by the designers web site, all the forms and details used around the buildings are to evoke the Megalithic iconography patterns.

Final Considerations

Mora Railway Station has to preserve two local memories. All the railway infrastructure was removed and just the station walls were conserved. It is still an imposing building, but embellished to fulfil its new role.