Symbiosis between industrial tourism and literary tourism

The headgear route with the “Black Nails”

Abstract

This article aims to highlight the diversity of Portuguese cultural heritage, namely, experiences related to industrial and literary heritage, perpetuators of memories. The core of this study focuses on the city of S. João da Madeira, in particular, on the hat industry and museum and on a work that presents the daily lives of these workers – Black Nails – by João da Silva Correia.

Indeed, investing in the development of industrial tourism, together with literary tourism, represents an emerging matter in today’s society, as it is necessary to value two relevant areas in the cultural sphere.

Since S. João da Madeira was the first city to introduce industrial tourism in Portugal, nothing better than combining the preservation of this heritage with the projection of cultural heritage. To this end, research was carried out on the existing manufacturing units, in order to allow knowledge of a museum space and local factories, as the main identity mark of the region, through a journey through History.

To show this symbiosis between both “tourisms”, the trip merges with the novel Black Nails (through the survey of the most illustrative quotes), which pays tribute to all those who made headgear one of the most important activities in the city.

By covering an infinity of contexts which, in this case, is materialized in the stimulus given to industry and literature, thanks to the sharing between past and future, this work intends to demonstrate how places and events provide new perspectives and experiences.