Museu do Abade de Baçal

Museu do Abade de Baçal is the leading regional museum of north-eastern Portugal. It occupies the former bishops' palace in Bragança and traces the story of Trás-os-Montes from prehistory to the present day. Its collections are broad enough to reward a slow visit, and it fits naturally into a walk around the old town.

How did the museum begin?

The institution was created in 1915 as a regional museum of art, archaeology and coins. It opened to the public in 1925 under Father Francisco Manuel Alves, better known as the Abade de Baçal, the abbot of Baçal. In 1935, as he retired, the museum took his name in recognition of his devotion to protecting the region's heritage.

What is the building?

The museum lives in the former Paço Episcopal, or Episcopal Palace. Its roots lie in the sixteenth-century "Casas da Mitra", and the present building dates largely from the eighteenth century. Bishops of the Miranda do Douro diocese stayed here, and the residence gained importance between 1764 and 1776, when the diocesan seat moved to Bragança. Since 1986 it has been classified as a Property of Public Interest.

What can you see?

The permanent exhibition fills fourteen rooms. It presents the religious, social, political, economic and artistic history of the north-east, together with the memory of the palace itself. Highlights include:

• Archaeology – decorated stelae, vessels and pottery fragments, arrowheads, halberds, axes and fibulae from prehistoric and proto-historic times, plus finds from the Celtic and Roman periods.
• Berrões – Iron Age stone animal sculptures typical of this corner of the Iberian Peninsula.
• Sacred art, numismatics and ceramics – objects tied to religious and everyday life in the region.
• Painting – works by well-known Portuguese artists such as Silva Porto, José Malhoa, Aurélia de Sousa and Veloso Salgado.
• Sá Vargas Legacy – eighteenth and nineteenth-century silverware and a notable seventeenth-century Indo-Portuguese cabinet.
• Ethnography – objects, paintings and photographs of daily life in Trás-os-Montes; in 2001 an important collection of transmontane masks joined the museum.

Who is it for?

History, archaeology and ethnography fans will get the most from it. It gives useful context for the region before you head into the mountains and villages around Bragança. Most visitors spend one to two hours inside.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the museum? In Bragança's historic centre, on Rua Abílio Beça, inside the former bishops' palace.

When was it founded? It was created in 1915, opened to visitors in 1925 and has carried its current name since 1935.

Are there Roman-era exhibits? Yes, the archaeological collection includes Celtic and Roman objects.

What are berrões? They are Iron Age stone figures of animals, among the most distinctive pieces in the collection.

Is it worth visiting for art? Yes, the museum holds paintings by important Portuguese painters and valuable items from the Sá Vargas Legacy.