It is located in Largo de São Domingos, city and municipality of Viana do Castelo, North of Portugal
The Museum was opened during the Festas da Senhora d’Agonia in 1923, and it was reported in the newspaper Aurora do Lima on August 17, 23: “Painting exhibition: Tomorrow the Regional Museum opens, installed in the «Casa das Figuras» today owned by the City Council, in Largo de S. Domingos.
In the first years of the museum, archaeological pieces were exhibited, mainly collected in the excavations of the city of Santa Luzia, such as councilors' rods, the customs measurement gauge, and others such as weapons stones.
The library was housed together with the Museum until 1966.
Some collectors, such as Luís Augusto Oliveira and Serafim Neves, each take charge of a room named after them, where they exhibit pieces from their personal collection, thus beginning a second period in the Museum's life.
The Museum of Decorative Arts is housed in an urban manor house located in Largo de São Domingos where there is also the church of the convent of the same evocation built by Santo Frei Bartolomeu dos Mártires.
The building was built in 1724 by Canon António Felgueiras Lima and the Archbishop of Braga D. Rodrigo de Moura Teles stayed there when he went to Viana to bathe on the beach.
It was later purchased by the Barbosa Teixeira Maciel family, becoming known as Casa dos Barbosa Maciel.
The building is made up of baroque lines, although with classic elements, such as the triangular pediments that top the windows.
Inside the building, in addition to the staircase leading to the main floor, there is a set of three rooms with plinths made of historic baroque blue tiles representing gallant scenes, hunting scenes and a room with an exceptional set of panels representing the four parts of the world (Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas) demonstrating how Viana was a land facing the world and receptive to the encounter of other cultures.
The original building also has a small chapel with a magnificent Baroque altarpiece and walls decorated with tiles designed by the master Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes.
In 1993, a new wing was added to the museum, designed by architect Luís Teles (who received an honorable mention in the National Architecture Prize) with a gallery for temporary exhibitions, reserves and work offices and an auditorium that allowed the development of a more consistent museum activity.
The Viana do Castelo Museum of Decorative Arts has the largest and most diverse collection of the so-called Portuguese "blue baixela" from the 17th and 18th centuries, the most important collection of Portuguese faience from the 18th and 19th centuries, and also has a precious collection of Indo-Portuguese furniture and various furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries.
In the first years of the museum, archaeological pieces were exhibited, mainly collected in the excavations of the city of Santa Luzia, such as councilors' rods, the customs measurement gauge, and others such as weapons stones.
The library was housed together with the Museum until 1966.
Some collectors, such as Luís Augusto Oliveira and Serafim Neves, each take charge of a room named after them, where they exhibit pieces from their personal collection, thus beginning a second period in the Museum's life.
The Museum of Decorative Arts is housed in an urban manor house located in Largo de São Domingos where there is also the church of the convent of the same evocation built by Santo Frei Bartolomeu dos Mártires.
The building was built in 1724 by Canon António Felgueiras Lima and the Archbishop of Braga D. Rodrigo de Moura Teles stayed there when he went to Viana to bathe on the beach.
It was later purchased by the Barbosa Teixeira Maciel family, becoming known as Casa dos Barbosa Maciel.
The building is made up of baroque lines, although with classic elements, such as the triangular pediments that top the windows.
Inside the building, in addition to the staircase leading to the main floor, there is a set of three rooms with plinths made of historic baroque blue tiles representing gallant scenes, hunting scenes and a room with an exceptional set of panels representing the four parts of the world (Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas) demonstrating how Viana was a land facing the world and receptive to the encounter of other cultures.
The original building also has a small chapel with a magnificent Baroque altarpiece and walls decorated with tiles designed by the master Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes.
In 1993, a new wing was added to the museum, designed by architect Luís Teles (who received an honorable mention in the National Architecture Prize) with a gallery for temporary exhibitions, reserves and work offices and an auditorium that allowed the development of a more consistent museum activity.
The Viana do Castelo Museum of Decorative Arts has the largest and most diverse collection of the so-called Portuguese "blue baixela" from the 17th and 18th centuries, the most important collection of Portuguese faience from the 18th and 19th centuries, and also has a precious collection of Indo-Portuguese furniture and various furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries.
