Museu de Alberto Sampaio

The Museu de Alberto Sampaio, located in the heart of the historic center of Guimarães, is part of the city's main tourist route and it is a must-see.

It occupies the place where Countess Mumadona Dias ordered the construction of a monastery in the 10th century. In the 12th century, it became a Collegiate Church, and in 1928, the museum was created to house the artistic collection of the former Colegiada de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira and other churches and convents in Guimarães and northern Portugal.

The Museu de Alberto Sampaio is a museum of decorative arts, essentially consisting of pieces of religious art. Chronologically, the collection covers a period from the 10th to the 20th century. A large percentage of the museum's heritage is of regional origin and the work of workshops in the north of the country, which does not invalidate the national relevance of some pieces and collections.

The Museum houses twelve National Treasures, most notably the emblematic Gambeson and the magnificent Triptych of Nativity – a gilded silver nativity scene – offered by King John I to Santa Maria da Oliveira in gratitude for the victory achieved on August 14, 1385, at the Battle of Aljubarrota.

This Museum also stands out for being the only one in the country to have a fresco painting room as an integral part of its permanent exhibition.