District Archives in Portugal: administrative, historical and social memory

This article presents an analysis of the historical and legal evolution of the Portuguese Archives of District as institutions which take safeguard the country’s public administrative documents. For this, the most relevant literature on the subject as well as historical, legal and political documents are reviewed, tracing its history from its origins, the new paths that are plotted in relation to the increased accessibility to the documentation, and new strategies for the dissemination of information to the public, also considering the context of the various initiatives of administrative modernization and new technologies.