The initiative Links with History: discovering the historic houses of Ribeira Lima was the winner of the Best Partnership Project at the Iberian Heritage Awards 2025, awarded by the platform Patrimonio.pt and Spira — heritage revitalization, rewarding entities and professionals who have developed projects of exceptional relevance and impact.

Part of the VINCULUM project and carried out in collaboration with the Ponte de Lima Municipality, Links with History took place in September 2024 and allowed 18 historic manors in Ribeira Lima to be opened to the public for two weekends. The visits were guided by the owners of the houses together with students from Ponte de Lima Secondary School. The aim was to promote the historic manors and strengthen the connection between the community and its heritage.

In her acceptance speech, Maria de Lurdes Rosa, coordinator of VINCULUM, highlighted “all those who love heritage and who, in civil society, have helped historians and researchers to come down from their ivory tower and learn a great deal from them,” and dedicated the award to the secondary school students who worked with the project team, especially the students from Ponte de Lima Secondary School.

The Iberian Heritage Awards 2025 were presented on 5 December at the Olga Cadaval Cultural Center in Sintra, at the closing of the eighth edition of AR&PA – Iberian Cultural Heritage Biennial 2025. This year’s jury was composed of Margarida Alçada (former Director-General of National Buildings and Monuments, Portugal), Enrique Saiz (former Director of Cultural Heritage of the Junta de Castilla y León, Spain), and Justin Albert (Vice-President of the University of Wales and former Executive Director of the International National Trusts Organisation, United Kingdom).