Cement Museum

The Central Nucleus of the Cement Museum of the Maceira-Liz factory was inaugurated on 22 April 1991, restructured between 2003 and 2006 and renovated in 2011. It integrates a permanent exhibition of the Empresa de Cimentos de Leiria (E.C.L.) history, through which the visitor has a chronological approach, from its foundation in 1923 to the present day.

In two permanent exhibition spaces, a journey through history, technological evolution and the development of the social work of the Empreza de Cimentos de Leiria in Maceira-Liz is proposed. Through numerous original documents and photographs from the time, the manufacturing processes, the geological and paleontological characteristics of the area and the interconnection with the surrounding community of the town of Maceira are described. Visitors can also watch a film, from the mid-1930s, about the manufacturing process and the packaging and shipping of cement.

The exhibition also dedicates a section to E.C.L.'s expansion to Africa (1944-1963), namely in Mozambique and Angola, which resulted in the construction of three factories. Finally, there is a space dedicated to the latest technological innovations.

With the launching of the second furnace in 1928, the Turbo Generator Central was installed, fed by a boiler and the hot gases from the furnaces, thus promoting the cogeneration of electrical energy.

In 1948, a second Brown Boveri turbo-alternator, with 1250KW of power, was added to this 1550KW AEG turbo-alternator group, as well as three steam feed boilers.

The Turbo Generator Central was deactivated in 1972. The building and its original equipment are currently preserved and musealized, having been maintained the industrial architectural features of the time.

Locomotive nº 1, manufactured in Germany by A. Borsig, was acquired in 1926 and made its first trip to the Martingança station in July of that year, by the railroad branch line that connects the E.C.L. to the West Line at that station.

In the beginning, the train's movement was assured by CP, which helped manoeuvre the wagons inside the plant and between it and Martingança. This was justified by the enormous flow of the train movements.

eing one of the very rare, preserved examples in Europe, Locomotive no. 1, which was in operation until 1987, was powered by steam and reached a maximum speed of 30 km/h.

In the 1930s, the Maceira-Liz factory started a new phase of development and technological innovation with the installation of a third production line. Having started operating in 1938, this new line was designed to work independently from the two existing ones (lines I and II) and was therefore called the "new factory".

The visitor will be able, during his visit, to observe and follow the stages of cement production through the Stone Circuit, created to transmit the main transformation phases.

One of the main innovations of this production line was the introduction of compressed air in the manufacturing process. It was in this context that the Compressor Center emerged.

The Documentation and Interpretation Centre was created in 2006 to assist the Maceira-Liz Factory Museum with a space dedicated to research, the study of collections and welcoming visitors.

This infrastructure, installed where the E.C.L. Design Room functioned for decades, includes a space for visitors (reception, shop, cafeteria/restaurant); an auditorium/temporary exhibition room/multi-purpose room; and an area dedicated to the reception and processing of documentation.

The documentary collection of the Cement Museum can also be accessed digitally through the Historical Archive of the Maceira-Liz Factory.

The Limestone Quarry Observatory is a privileged place to get to know the local geological and paleontological framework and the extractive activity in the quarry, which constitutes the first stage of the cement manufacturing process.

This is also an area for observing various species of birds, especially birds of prey and aquatic birds. The visitor will also be able, from an information panel, to learn about some of the bird species that seek out the quarry as a feeding ground, refuge or nesting place.

The marl and limestones from the quarries of the Maceira-Liz plant date from the Jurassic Period. The palaeontological heritage, mostly consisting of fossils of marine cephalopods, suggests that, at this time, the quarry area would have been covered by water.

The Jurassic Garden offers visitors a small educational circuit where they can learn about the local geology and palaeontology.

This space intends to recreate a past of more than 150 million years ago, with a small fossil collection of ammonites and ichnofossils of the marine environment and some flora of the Jurassic period.

The flora of that period is essentially constituted by Gymnosperms (plants without flowers) that were losing space in the Cretaceous period to the Angiosperms (flowering plants), a situation that exists today. Here you can find plant species such as cycads, araucaria, ginkos, junipers, yews and horsetails.

Given the environmental problems that humanity is facing, the growing pollution and global warming, water is a scarce and important resource, a fact that requires increasingly conscious measures.

The Water Park was created to raise awareness of the importance of water resources and show visitors the process of water treatment at the Maceira-Liz factory, from its abstraction to the final supply of drinking water for social and industrial purposes.