Museu de Olaria
Municipal ceramics museum housed in the Casa dos Mendanhas in the historic centre of Barcelos, with the permanent exhibition “Olaria de Portugal”.
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About the museum
The museum has its origins in the 1940s, when Barcelos municipal council set up a room in the Paços dos Condes. In the early 1950s the ethnographer Joaquim Sellés Paes Villas Boas donated more than seven hundred ceramic pieces and artefacts, which formed the first core of the collection. The Museu Regional de Cerâmica opened on 4 May 1963, during the Festas das Cruzes, and was later renamed the Museu de Cerâmica Popular Portuguesa.
In 1982 the move began to the Casa dos Mendanhas Benevides Cyrne, a 17th-century building in the historic centre, and the museum took the name Museu de Olaria. It opened in the new premises on 29 July 1995, joined the Rede Portuguesa de Museus and, in 2007, created its education and animation service. After renovation and extension works it reopened on 31 August 2013 with a larger permanent exhibition area.
The collection, which grew from about 700 pieces to about 11,000, focuses on Portuguese pottery, especially that of Barcelos, and also includes pieces from Portuguese-speaking countries and other countries. On 6 May 2023, in the year the museum turned 60, the permanent exhibition “Olaria de Portugal” opened.
Highlights
- Permanent exhibition “Olaria de Portugal”, opened in 2023
- Collection of about 11,000 pieces of Portuguese pottery
- Ceramics from Barcelos and other pottery centres in the country
- Pieces from Portuguese-speaking countries
- Casa dos Mendanhas Benevides Cyrne, a building in the historic centre
Permanent exhibition
- Olaria de Portugal – Permanent exhibition of more than a century of Portuguese pottery, displayed over several floors of the museum.
- Founded
- 1963
- Operated by
- Município de Barcelos
Admission & discounts
| Adults | €2.20 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €1.10Pensioners, students, and holders of the Cartão Jovem and of the Cartão Jovem de Barcelos |
| Children & teens | freefree up to age 11 · Children under 12 enter free. |
| Seniors | –Visitors over 65 enter free. |
| Groups | €2.20 per personGroups pay the same price as individual visitors. The museum may refuse groups of more than 25 people. |
Free admission: Free admission on Sunday mornings from 22 September to 21 June, and on Sunday afternoons from 22 June to 21 September.
Free admission also for educational institutions, volunteers of the Museu de Olaria and members of the friends of museums association.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
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
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Guided visits, other programmes and workshops require advance registration at least 15 days ahead, depending on availability, and have their own prices; there are no activities in August. Educational programmes for schools are free and take place during the school term. |
