Museu do Abade de Baçal

Created by decree-law in 1915 and housed in the former Episcopal Palace of Bragança, the Museu do Abade de Baçal houses a vast and eclectic collection spanning from prehistory to Modernism. Its initial holdings, composed of assets from the Diocese of Bragança-Miranda and the former Municipal Museum of Archaeology, have been expanded with other collections as diverse as they are remarkable, including painting, sculpture, goldsmithing, furniture, numismatics, and faience.

The permanent exhibition is distributed across fourteen rooms: from spaces dedicated to the history of the Trás-os-Montes Northeast, through pre-Roman and Roman archaeology, to the palace chapel, and the national numismatic collections of Colonel Ramires, the Indo-Portuguese goldsmithing and furniture of the Sá Vargas family, the faience ceramics from the Cagigal collection, and nineteenth-century furniture.

In the final rooms, a remarkable collection of Portuguese naturalist painting and sculpture stands out, with works by Silva Porto, Marques de Oliveira, Veloso Salgado, José Malhoa, Aurélia de Souza, and Sarah Affonso, as well as paintings by Abel Salazar and an outstanding group of drawings by Almada Negreiros.

The museum also features a shop and a large historic garden.

The origins of the Museu do Abade de Baçal date back to the decree-law of 13th November 1915. Located in the historic centre of Bragança and housed in the former Episcopal Palace, the Museum was initially formed from the assets of the Diocese and the collection of the Municipal Museum of Archaeology, later enriched by other collections as diverse as they are notable, including painting, sculpture, drawing, secular goldsmithing, furniture, numismatics and faience.

Taken as a whole, this diversity, together with the wide chronological span it encompasses, from prehistory to Modernism, constitutes one of the defining features of its historical and artistic heritage.