Museu da Indústria Baleeira
Industrial archaeology museum in the former sperm whale factory of São Roque do Pico, with the original machinery; the first public industrial museum in the Azores.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Museu da Indústria Baleeira occupies the former factory of the Sociedade das Armações Baleeiras Reunidas, Lda., in São Roque do Pico, and was the first public industrial museum in the Azores. The company, founded in 1942, combined sperm whale hunting with the production and sale of its by-products. The factory operated from 1946 to 1984 and was the largest and most important sperm whale processing complex in the archipelago, with a total area of about 1,200 m².
The museum covers the whole built complex: the factory, the forge-foundry and metalwork-turning building, the former carpentry shop, now a gallery for temporary exhibitions, the garage adapted into storage and a workshop, the chimney, the winches and the meat mill outside, the flensing yard and the slipway for hauling the sperm whales, and the oil tanks. In the main building visitors see the equipment in which blubber, meat, bones and livers were processed into oil, meal, fertiliser and vitamins: boilers, autoclaves, dryers, a press, an oil centrifuge and the power station.
It is therefore an industrial archaeology museum, preserved in the place where it operated, which also holds ethnographic objects for cutting and flensing sperm whales, documentation of the factory, photographs of the port of São Roque do Pico and models of sperm whales and whaling boats. It is part of the Museu do Pico, together with the Museu dos Baleeiros in Lajes do Pico and the Museu do Vinho in Madalena.
Highlights
- Sperm whale factory preserved on site, with boilers, autoclaves, press and oil centrifuge
- Flensing yard and slipway for sperm whales
- Oil tanks, chimney, winches and meat mill
- Models of sperm whales and whaling boats, and photographs of the port of São Roque
- Gallery for temporary exhibitions in the former carpentry shop
Permanent exhibition
- Fábrica da Baleia e complexo industrial – Museum on the factory site, with the machinery, the flensing yard, the slipway and the oil tanks.
- Operated by
- Museu do Pico, Direção Regional da Cultura, Governo dos Açores
Admission & discounts
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
- Family tours & workshops
The education service of the Museu do Pico organises activities for schools and families.
Getting there & parking
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Amenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| School programs | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | The Museu do Pico has an education service, which organises activities throughout the year. There is a virtual visit of the whaling industry pole. |
