Category: Civil Architecture > Museum
District: Viana do Castelo > Melgaço > Melgaço > Senhora da Oliveira
The Melgaço Cinema Museum is located in the historic area of the village, in a building that formerly housed the Fiscal Guard. Its central position in the urban area facilitates access and allows for easy integration into a walk through Melgaço's oldest streets.
Finding this cultural space is intuitive, as it is situated in a recognizable area of the village that maintains its original character. The surroundings are calm and invite visitors to discover the local heritage on foot.
This museum hosts a unique collection, entirely focused on the history of cinema. The collection, assembled over decades by Jean-Loup Passek, a name linked to institutions such as the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the La Rochelle Festival, was donated to Melgaço, making this space unique in Portugal in this field.
Visitors can explore a diverse set of objects that tell the evolution of the "dream-making machine," from its beginnings to more recent times. The collection includes cinematographic equipment, thousands of original posters, and photographs that document the history and faces of world cinema.
On the ground floor, a permanent exhibition transports visitors to the pre-cinema period, prior to the invention of the cinematograph by the Lumière Brothers. Here, devices that exploited the persistence of vision to create the illusion of movement are discovered, such as magic lanterns, phenakistoscopes, zoetropes, and praxinoscopes.
These devices demonstrate the curiosity and ingenuity of the 19th century in bringing static images to life. The museum exhibits notable examples of these objects, many with their original boxes and delicate hand-painted glass slides, showing how the public was captivated by the magic of animated images even before cinema as we know it today.
In addition to the exhibition dedicated to the origins of cinema, the museum presents temporary shows that allow for a deeper understanding of different facets of the seventh art. These spaces on the upper floor offer varied perspectives on directors, genres, eras, or the art of cinema posters.
The museum also features an interactive area, the New World Room, where replicas of optical toys can be handled, such as a peep-show or an optical box for theatrical dioramas. A small auditorium allows for film screenings, often related to the themes of the current exhibitions.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt
Coordinates DD: 42.1145122,-8.2602704
Coordinates DMS: 42°06'52.2"N 08°15'37.0"W
Weather Melgaço
On-duty Pharmacy Melgaço
