National Museum Machado de Castro

We made our way to the ticket office to enter the museum and decided to get the audio guide, which was very useful. The museum is spread over five levels and you are directed up, down and around by a team of staff with radios that let the next area know you are on your way.

We started on level -2 and - 1 with the Roman ruins, which the museum was built over - it used to be the site of the Roman Forum, and the remains are the platform (cryptoportico) that the Forum was built upon. You enter a vaulted area and walk between large open areas, and more confined spaces. There are some tombstones and ancient sculptures in this area, but it is mainly looking at the layout and construction of the buildings.

Floors 0 to 2 contained a broad range of art, which is excellent. We started in the sculpture area where they had architectural pieces through to Gothic religious sculpture. There was a section of the cloister of São João de Almedina, and some alabaster pieces from England. Renaissance masters who came from other parts of Europe to Coimbra brought their various styles and traditions which contributed to the distinctive Coimbra tradition. A whole chapel has been reassembled and is on display.

There were 16th century terracotta figures from Hodart’s Last Supper that are very impressive. There are also a range of paintings -most are quite religious - and there are some panels by the Flemish artist Metsys. There are also extensive collections of gold monstrances, furniture and some Moorish influenced pieces. There is so much to see in this museum, which we found out at the conclusion of the tour is named after a local sculpture who was born in Coimbra 1731. It took us several hours to get through the collection as it is so extensive.Read more