Museu Municipal de Coruche
Multi-site territorial municipal museum in Coruche, with free admission; the headquarters building is closed and the Rural Unit serves as a temporary base.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Museu Municipal de Coruche (Coruche Municipal Museum) opened in 2001 and has been part of the Portuguese Museum Network since 2002. It describes itself as a multi-site territorial museum, dedicated to identifying, preserving and promoting local heritage, and is located in the historic centre of the town, next to the River Sorraia. The headquarters occupies a former manor house about 300 years old, which around 1870 was bought by the lawyer Alfredo Augusto Cunhal and later remodelled by the family.
The first long-term exhibition, “O Homem e o Trabalho – a Magia da Mão” (Man and Work – the Magic of the Hand), told the history of the municipality's territory between 2001 and 2013. It was then replaced by “Coruche: o Céu, a Terra e os Homens” (Coruche: the Sky, the Earth and the Men), which traces the history of the municipality from prehistory, with the concept of the sacred as its thread, from the Água Doce dolmens (antas) to the Christian Reconquest and the 1182 charter (Foral).
The network includes the Escola-Museu Salgueiro Maia (Salgueiro Maia School Museum), in São Torcato, opened in 2009; the Núcleo Tauromáquico de Coruche (Coruche Bullfighting Unit), opened in 2010 in the former CTT (post office) building; and the Núcleo Rural de Coruche – Centro de Artes, Ofícios e Saberes Tradicionais (Rural Unit of Coruche – Centre for Arts, Crafts and Traditional Knowledge), opened in May 2018 in the former barracks of the Bombeiros Municipais (municipal firefighters). The Rural Unit shows the exhibition “Dos ranchos de gente às máquinas de mil braços” (From Gangs of People to Machines of a Thousand Arms), on the mechanisation of agriculture in the Sorraia valley. The museum also has a documentation centre, an auditorium and a café.
Highlights
- Exhibition “Coruche: o Céu, a Terra e os Homens”
- Rural Unit, on the mechanisation of agriculture in the Sorraia valley
- Núcleo Tauromáquico de Coruche (Bullfighting Unit)
- Escola-Museu Salgueiro Maia, in São Torcato
- Free admission
Permanent exhibitions
- Coruche: o Céu, a Terra e os Homens – Long-term exhibition in the headquarters on the history of the municipality, from prehistory to the Christian Reconquest, based on the concept of the sacred.
- Dos ranchos de gente às máquinas de mil braços – cultivar memórias, semear e aprender – Exhibition of the Rural Unit on the changes to the landscape and to the lives of the communities of the Sorraia valley during the mechanisation of agriculture.
- Tauromaquia de Coruche – História, Arte, Tradição – Exhibition of the Bullfighting Unit, which sketches the history of bullfighting in the municipality.
- Founded
- 2001
- Operated by
- Município de Coruche
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
Admission to the permanent and temporary exhibitions and to the documentation centre is free all year round, except for profit-making entities.
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
- Café
- Museum shop
The museum has a café, a shop and a courtyard.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| School programs | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | Visits to the Bullfighting Unit and the Escola-Museu Salgueiro Maia are booked through the Municipal Museum. The museum has an education service, with educational offers and programmes for schools. |
