This stamp issue is an integral part of a work dedicated to Portuguesemuseological heritage, the rst volume of which is now coming to light. True guardians of memory, the thirteen century-old museums that arepresented here were all founded between 1772 and 1894, in a period marked by extraordinary advances, having each one of them its own story to tell. A unique story that distinguishes it from all others. A story of resilience marked by the will to thrive in often adverse circumstances, and which made them repeatedly reinvent themselves up to the present day. Distributed throughout the national territory, on the mainland and onthe islands, from the coast to the interior, these century-old museums,both public and private, act as bridges between the monuments, places and communities that form them.
Dating to 1772, the Natural History Cabinet of the University of Coimbra – today the Museum of Science – is the oldest living museum in Portugal.It is the heir to the country's rst scienti c collections, gathered by Domingos Vandelli in the Royal Museum and Botanical Garden of Ajuda,which was founded in 1768 at the behest of the Marquis of Pombal. Six decades later, even amidst the siege of Porto, King Pedro IV created theMuseu Portuense, now the Soares dos Reis National Museum. Opening in 1833, it was the country's rst public art museum.
In 1851, the Artillery Museum – today the Military Museum – was openedin the facilities of the former Royal Army Arsenal in Lisbon, attesting tothe importance of this military institution in a century marked by liberalstruggles. In 1858, now Museum of Natural History of Science of Lisbon - MUHNAC – was established in the building of the Royal College ofNobles, later the Polytechnic School.
Around 1860, the Lisbon Geological Museum was opened on the rst oor of the Academy of Sciences building in the heart of Bairro Alto,housing the most complete geological collection of the country. In 1864,the Archaeological Museum of Carmo was founded within the RoyalAssociation of Portuguese Civil Architects and Archaeologists, to whomKing Luís ceded the management of a convent erected in the 14th century by Nun'Álvares Pereira to mark the victory of Aljubarrota.
Focussed on Natural History, the Azorean Museum – today the CarlosMachado Museum – appeared in 1880 on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. Based in the Santo André Convent in Ponta Delgada, itquickly expanded its collections. In 1884, the Historical and Ethnographic Museum was founded by the Lisbon Geographical Society. Now the Ethnographic Museum of the Lisbon Geographical Society, it tells thestory of the Portuguese presence in Africa, India, Macao and Timor.Following the Ornamental Art Exhibition that had taken place in Lisbon that same year, the Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology was created,today the National Museum of Ancient Art. Months later in 1885, the Martins Sarmento Society, an illustrious cultural institution in Guimarães,opened the doors of its Archaeological Museum. Eight years later, in 1893, José Leite de Vasconcellos founded his Ethnographic Museum,currently the National Museum of Archaeology. Today, around 380 thousand pieces make up its collections, which cover a vast chronological spectrum of almost half a million years.
A year later in 1894, the country witnessed the birth of the Archaeologicaland Lapidary Museum of Faro, currently the Municipal Museum of Faro, a guardian of the heritage of this city of the Algarve from Roman times to today. Also in that year, the Municipal Museum of Figueira da Foz – now the Santos Rocha Municipal Museum – was created, dedicated to thestudy of the various branches of human sciences.
Each of these museums carries a living and dynamic legacy which gives rise to new readings every day. A heritage condensed here in twenty-siximages and spanning more than a century of history.
Cristina Cordeiro Author of the book Museus Centenários de Portugal (Centennary Museums of Portugal)
