CIART – Centro de Interpretação de Arte Rupestre do Vale do Tejo
Interpretation centre in Vila Velha de Ródão on the rock art of the Tagus valley, reopened in October 2025 with a new museum project.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Complexo de Arte Rupestre do Vale do Tejo (Tagus Valley Rock Art Complex) is one of the most important post-Palaeolithic art ensembles in Europe, with more than 20,000 engravings along about 40 kilometres of both banks of the river. It was discovered at the end of 1971 and studied in several rescue archaeology campaigns, until in 1974 it was almost completely submerged by the reservoir of the Fratel dam. These campaigns produced more than 1,500 latex casts and a large documentary and photographic archive.
The Centro de Interpretação de Arte Rupestre do Vale do Tejo (CIART) opened in 2012, with the mission of supporting the study and preservation of this heritage. It closed in 2020 for a thorough redevelopment and extension, which included a new entrance, new exhibition galleries, a documentation centre and a multimedia and audiovisual room. The new museum project was presented at the reopening in October 2025.
The permanent exhibition explains the geological and geomorphological framework of the landscape, the probable way of life of hunter-gatherers, and the different forms of rock art in the region, from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic to the present day. The centre also pays tribute to the “Geração do Tejo” (Tagus Generation), the archaeologists and students who recorded these engravings.
Highlights
- More than 20,000 rock engravings along 40 km of the Tagus
- More than 1,500 latex casts of the submerged engravings
- New permanent exhibition, opened in October 2025
- Documentation centre and multimedia room
- Tribute to the “Geração do Tejo”
Permanent exhibition
- Exposição permanente do CIART – Route through the geology of the landscape, the way of life of hunter-gatherers and the rock art of the Tagus valley, from the Neolithic to the present day.
- Founded
- 2012
- Operated by
- Município de Vila Velha de Ródão
Admission & discounts
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Accessibility
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Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
The centre is in the centre of Vila Velha de Ródão.
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Events & venue rental
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Plan your visit
| Good to know | Groups, including school groups, must book their visit in advance; educational activities can be requested through the centre's contact details. |
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