The Municipal Museum, located in the city of Santiago do Cacém, in the 19th century building of the former county jail, opened its doors to the public as a museum in 1972.
In 2013, he was distinguished with an Honorable Mention in the Best Cultural Extension Service / Educational Service Award awarded by the Portuguese Association of Museology.
The museum houses a valuable collection of archeology and numismatics, which shows a coinage route marked out between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century BC. and the advent of the Republic, and the ethnographic collection. Donation by João Gualberto da Cruz e Silva (1881-1948) that extraordinarily illustrates and documents local and national history, together with a set of bills and notes.
Noteworthy is a cell preserved from the old jail and in which some political prisoners of the First Republic were incarcerated. Highlights at the Municipal Museum include a reconstruction of an Alentejo kitchen, barber shop, rural bedroom and tailor shop, as well as a reconstruction of an old primary school room.
The Museum holds an archaeological collection with representative pieces from the Paleolithic to the Medieval period (unavailable to the public temporarily).
The museum’s collection also includes a vast ethnographic display that has been enriched through offers from the inhabitants of the region, as well as pieces of decorative arts and ceramics, paintings, furniture, sculptures, textiles, documentation and photographs.
The Museum establishes partnerships with local institutions, in order to make known the museological heritage and create a dynamic and cultural dialogue with the community. Artistic creation projects are also promoted and workshops are held, namely Creative Practice Workshops, Saturdays at the Museum and Museum Fora de Portas
There are three more museums in the Municipality: The Rural Work Museum in the village of Abela, the Flour Museum in São Domingos and the Archeology Museum of Alvalade in the village of Alvalade.
I come to visit our museums and get to know the history and cultural richness of the municipality of Santiago do Cacém.