In the highest Portuguese mountain’s slope, the textile industry grew in Covilhã, and the city grew alongside it: they walked hand-in-hand artistical, economical and socially, with a large percentage of the population entirely dedicated to textile production. It was in Covilhã that in 1764 the Royal Textile Factory (Real Fábrica de Panos da Covilhã) was built, from the desire of the Marquis of Pombal to modernize the Portuguese wool production [5,6]. Although the Royal Textile Factory stopped the manufacture of wool products in the last quarter of the 19th c., has followed the successive phases of the industrial development and is still today a city bursting with industrial activity.

The University of Beira Interior (UBI), significantly contributed to the conservation and recovery of the Royal Textile Factory. From 1970, an intense and long process of archaeology and conservation of the site was developed, and in 1992 the first nucleus of the Wool Museum of UBI (MUSLAN) was constituted [6]. It is also UBI which leads project ARQUEOTEX, approved by the European Fund of Regional Development FEDER, on the creation of a network of information about the textile industrial heritage, involving partners throughout Europe [7]. From the several authors who contributed to the recovery and communication of the region’s history, Elisa Pinheiro, core CV and member of this project, was the great driving force behind the revival of the Royal Textile Factory and the creation of the MUSLAN [5-9]. Beyond MUSLAN, the team of LabCom is world-leading expert on communication and actively involved on projects such as the COMMUNICATING SCIENCE, approved by FCT.

Nevertheless, the history of the Portuguese wool industry lacks an in-depth study of the dyeing processes used from the 18th c. onwards. There is a profusion of documentary sources dispersed in several archives and public libraries, namely in the National Archive of Torre do Tombo, the Historical Archive of the Ministry of Planning, the Historical Archive of the Court of Auditors, the District Archive of Castelo Branco and the Municipal Archive of Covilhã [5,6]. While important references have been published [8-14], they lack the necessary analysis of international contextualization and technological characterization, as well as the comprehensive study of the collection of more than a hundred textile swatches.

Moreover, the study of the contribution of the French wool industry to the Royal Factory’s production is still in its early stages. Current evidence points out to the Marquis’ inspiration on the Manufactures des Gobelins, which was extensively described in the world-renown Encyclopédie de Diderot and D’Alembert [6]. Historians and archeologists found that the dyeing facilities of the Royal Factory, particularly the cloths and vat dye-houses, were built reproducing the construction plans of the Parisian manufacture [5,6]. The Marquis also hired foreign specialists to work in the several areas of the Factory, namely the French dyeing master Jean Baptiste Salessis [5].

Outside the Portuguese scope, many international projects have brought to light the manufacture of dyed fine cloths and the importance of their historical archives. Of particular significance is the project “Colorants et textiles de 1850 à nous jours”, coordinated by the Institut National d’Histoire de L’Art, entirely dedicated to the study of the colorants used in French textiles during 1850-1914. Moreover, we highlight the Mobilier National et Manufactures de Gobelins, de Beauvais et de la Savonnerie, an institution whose mission is to ensure the conservation and restoration of the unique

collections from these manufactures, while perpetuating their exceptional savoir-faire [15,16]. Finally, the COST ACTION EuroWeb, in which the teams of LAQV and Lab2PT are widely involved, has pushed the boundaries of history, science and art. Uniting Europe’s top researchers and artisans in various textile subareas, this COST Action aims at formulating a new vision of European history based on the massive production of textiles, their trade, symbolic meaning and consumption [17].

In the field of organic colorant formulations, the team of LAQV-NOVA.iD are world-leading experts. They have conducted research into ancient and medieval written sources as well as 19th c. archives [18-21]. Moreover, the LAQV team has developed a ground-breaking multianalytical methodology for the characterization of dyes in artworks, disclosing recipe’s specificities and workshop particularities [1-4]. Other pioneering studies allowed an interdisciplinary approach for the characterization of dyes and provide key knowledge on their plant sources, such as those from Dominique Cardon, the most prominent researcher in her field, which has extensively contributed to the study of natural dye sources for textile dyeing [22], and Joana Sequeira, an expert on textile and dye sources trade routes and production within the Portuguese territory [23].

In recent years, the industrial heritage has been boosting different approaches to local development and Covilhã offers an exemplary context, by integrating active communities, from academy to industry [24, 25]. Moreover, the use of natural materials in several industries, has grew more urgent. TrendBurel is a frontrunner in this action, within Covilhã’s region [26]. They have recovered the factory of Lanífícios Império, kept the machines of the 19th c. and recycled some patterns from the archives, remaking it into the Burel Factory.

Inspired by these highly successful international projects and the unique motivation of MUSLAN & TrendBurel, REVIVAL plans to do an in-depth study of the archives and documentary sources dispersed by various institutions, which will serve as a leverage for the resurgence of the manufacture’s technological innovations. This will allow for an update of this knowledge, to be used and applied in modern textile design.