The  Santos Rocha Municipal Museum  is located in the Portuguese city of Figueira da Foz. Situated in the heart of the city, next to the Abadias Park, it is next door to the Arts and Shows Center.

 

Founded in 1894 by António dos Santos Rocha, the Municipal Museum went through several periods, taking into account the action taken and the museological criteria that governed its successive resettlement in different physical spaces. 
Until 1910, roughly, lived a golden phase, extending its fame beyond borders. The remarkable action of Santos Rocha, the works of the Archaeological Society of Figueira da Foz and the publications included in its Bulletin made the Municipal Museum aware of the best national scientific institutions.


Provisionally installed in the Casa do Paço since 1899, it was moved to the Paços do Concelho building in 1910, where it remained until 1975, the date of the official opening to the public of the new building, built with the financial support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and designed by the architect. figueirense Isaiah Cardoso.


With the opening of the new space began a whole work of resettlement and study of the pieces, associated with a great effort to stimulate the public, collectivities and schools. 
The Museum has a documentation center that offers a vast collection of thematic works related mainly to the History of Art, Archeology and Museology. It also has a significant core of bibliography concerning the local history and history of the Municipal Museum.


Consisting of a reading / consultation room and a reservation space, it does not have a loan service. However, face-to-face consultation and reading can be held from Monday to Friday, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Collections that are not on display can be visited on reservation, by appointment, every Friday and on the first Saturday of each month, always at 2.30 pm. You can see the collections of weapons, furniture and ethnography from Africa, Brazil and the East: China, Japan, India…  
The collection is housed in the old showcases, giving a very suggestive impression of what the Municipal Museum would be like at the time of the its foundation in the late nineteenth century. 
In the reserves, there is also the Curiosity Room that existed in the forties of the twentieth century, with very diverse objects and a great predominance of species of Natural History.

Fragile or lasting, the relationship established between the Museum and the donors has allowed a progressive enrichment of the museum collection, proving that this ability to activate relations with society and the environment in which it operates is essential. 
The need to know better the benefactors of the Santos Rocha Municipal Museum has given rise to a large amount of research that, in turn, allows a broader view of a wide range of personalities, figueirenses or not, who took the donation as an act. of generosity from the foundation to the present day. 
Despite being an unfinished task, the research has now created a database that we consider, however, under permanent construction, given that a few dozen names deserve further investigation and that the chronological period studied it only covers the years 1894 to 1939.  
We hope that, with its dissemination, new contributions may emerge and complement the information already available.

 


Winter Time (from 01 September to 30 June)  
Tuesday to Friday: 09h30 | 5:00 pm  
Saturday: 2:00 pm | 7:00  
pm Closed: Sundays, Mondays and holidays

Summer (from 01 July to 31 August)  
Tuesday to Friday: 09h30 | 18h00  
Weekend and holidays: 14h00 | 7:00  
pm Closed: Mondays

 

Admission
Adults: 2 €  
Adults (over 65 years) 1 €  
Family Ticket (minimum 3 visitors) 4 €  
Group visit (over 15 visitors) 15 €

 

In addition to its mission of collecting, conserving, protecting, researching, interpreting and disseminating material and immaterial testimonies, bequeathed by ancestors or representative of more recent identities, with archaeological, ethnographic, artistic, or any other heritage value deemed relevant, the Museum Municipal also has the mission of establishing dialogues and experiences that support, challenge and stimulate its publics in the formation of knowledge, framed in the different historical-cultural contexts, strengthening the relations with the community in which it operates and at the service of society in general.

 

Founded in 1894 by the fig tree  António dos Santos Rocha   (1853-1910) with the purpose of housing the valuable collection collected by him, since 1886, in various archaeological campaigns in the Serra da Boa Viagem, the Municipal Museum was provisionally installed in Casa do Paço where remained until 1899 and was then transferred to the building of the Paços do Concelho da Figueira da Foz.


Until 1910, the year of Santos Rochas death, the Museum was archaeological and ethnographic. The broad projection that he obtained is due to the dedication of its founder and the work developed by  the Archaeological Society  of Figueira, which brought together the most distinguished figueirenses, national and foreign, interested in the anthropological sciences.


In 1939, under the direction of António Vitor Guerra and with the constant support of the newly formed “Group of Friends”, the disciplinary range of collections was expanded, incorporating important legacies and deposits that allowed the formation of hitherto non-existent artistic sections, namely painting and sculpture. 
Despite the manifest lack of space, the museum remained in the Paços do Concelho building and was moved in 1945 from the noble floor to the upper floor.


In 1966, with the technical and financial support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, work began on the construction of an ambitious cultural complex, simultaneously a museum, library and auditorium. The building was opened in 1974 and the first permanent exhibition room opened in 1979.


On the occasion of the celebrations of the 1st centenary, in 1994, the museum received the award for “Best Museum”, awarded by the Portuguese Association of Museology.


Arriving in the 21st century, the Santos Rocha Municipal Museum deepens its relationship with the territory through thematic nuclei dedicated to sea and salt and is a privileged space for the production and dissemination of knowledge, as well as a reference for quality and dynamism in life. county and region.


There are several  permanent collections  that can be visited at the Santos Rocha Municipal Museum. Most of them go beyond the municipal territory and historical heritage, as is the case of the Numismatic, Armory, Epigraphy, Indo-Portuguese Furniture and Tavira Tapestry collections, a unique 18th century profane piece from from a French artisans factory located in Tavira.


This museum space is also a local and national center open to research. It offers, for consultation of researchers and students, a vast collection of works on thematic fundamentally related to Art History, Archeology and Museology. It also has a significant core of bibliography concerning the local history and history of the Municipal Museum.


Consisting of a reading / consultation room and a reservation space, it does not have a loan service, and the face-to-face consultation and reading can be held from Monday to Friday, from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and from 2 pm to 5 pm. 
In addition to the collections on permanent display, visitors can enjoy temporary exhibitions, which are open to the public throughout the year, in two free access rooms.

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