Category: Civil Architecture > Museum
District: Leiria > Alcobaça > Alcobaça > Alcobaça e Vestiaria
The Vieira Natividade House Museum is located in the central area of Alcobaça, integrated into the urbanized area known as Alcobaça and Vestiaria. It is close to the heart of the town, in an area where urban life intersects with the historical importance of the village.
This museum space has the unique characteristic of being housed in the very home where Manuel Vieira Natividade lived, a prominent figure in the cultural and scientific life of Alcobaça between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A pharmacist by training, he devoted himself assiduously to the archaeology and ethnography of the region. The creation of the House Museum fulfills the scholar's desire to share the vast collection he assembled throughout his life, with his family donating both the collection and the residence to the Portuguese State for this purpose. His home was, in its time, a meeting point for scholars, known as the "Cave of Science."
The collection assembled by Manuel Vieira Natividade, which forms the central core of this museum, is remarkably varied. It includes important archaeological finds, from Prehistory to the Roman period, collected in the Alcobaça region. Among them, notable pieces considered pioneers in Portugal stand out, such as a small female bone statuette or a unique slate plaque. The collection also covers objects related to local ethnography, plastic arts, photography, numismatics, textiles, with particular emphasis on Alcobaça ceramics and chintzes, and decorative arts. A singular element is the life-size sculpture of the "Wheel of Life/Fortune" from D. Pedro's tomb, commissioned by Natividade for his studies.
In addition to the valuable collection it houses, the building of the Vieira Natividade House Museum itself is a point of interest. It is a residence more than a hundred years old, whose architectural design was conceived by the notable architect Raul Lino in 1914. The house itself reflects the atmosphere and style of the era in which Manuel Vieira Natividade lived and worked, complementing the experience of contact with his life and work and the collection he gathered.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt
Coordinates DD: 39.5484832,-8.9813659
Coordinates DMS: 39°32'54.5"N 08°58'52.9"W
Weather Alcobaça
On-duty Pharmacy Alcobaça
