The Algarve's oldest Museum reopens in Faro

Paul Rees 25 July 2018

MaritimemuseumSmall The Maritime Museum Almirante Ramalho Ortigão, the oldest museum in the Algarve will reopen on Friday, 27th July.

According to the Southern Maritime Command, a reopening ceremony will take place at 11:00 am in the Maritime building at the harbour in Faro.

The event will be attended by the great and the good, and the Mayor of Faro, the Regional Director of Culture and the Director of the Navy’s Cultural Commission.

The museum houses an ethnographic collection on maritime activity and the Algarve’s fishing industry where equipment, tools, instruments and all things maritime are on display across three rooms.

The museum will be open between 14:30 and 16:30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with Wednesdays reserved for booked visits for groups.

The Almirante Ramalho Ortigão Maritime Museum - the oldest in the Algarve - was created on January 4, 1889 and then was called the Museu Industrial Marítimo da Escola Pedro Nunes.

Its collection was assembled from objects and models built privately by the Navy Officer, António Artur Baldaque da Silva, a collection that was exhibited at the Paris World Fair (Exposition Universelle) in 1900.

In 1916, the collection formally was handed over to the Navy and Commander Ramalho Ortigão helped preserve and reorganise the exhibits to form the basis of the Museum opened in 1931 in the Southern Maritime Department.

In 1946, the Maritime Museum was renamed the Museu Marítimo Almirante Ramalho Ortigão, in honour of its founder, and settled at its current address between 1962 and 1964.

Rua Comunidade Lusíada 8000 – 253 Faro
telf.: + 351 289 894 990 | fax: + 351 289 894 997 | museu.ramalho.ortigao@marinha.pt

Comments

+1 #5 Darcy 2018-07-26 23:21

"History" man,
It's with bated breathe we are waiting for your next instalment of Fools guide to Portugal's history.
It is well known in the history of Europe that Portugal lead the Age of Discoveries in the 14th century, that is before Spain and Italy.
Northern European countries were not involved in Maritime discoveries until much later in their history, but they thrived on the spices and riches that was procured from the Portugese endeavours.

+1 #4 AL 2018-07-26 10:18

Quoting Historyman:

Explorations wherein any previous claims by other earlier cultures to have already explored were studiously airbrushed out of the Portuguese narrative...

Such as? Go on storyman gives some examples.
Amazing how a simple re-opening of a museum that displays a bit of the Algarve maritime history can produce negative comments by some ADN readers.

+2 #3 Peter Booker 2018-07-26 10:07

Would Historyman tell us what has been airbrushed out of the history which is taught to Portuguese? What exactly has been removed to create the gaping hole which he sees?

-2 #2 Historyman 2018-07-26 08:12

One of the supreme ironies of Portuguese history is the importance given to the brief period of the 1400 - 1500's Explorations wherein any previous claims by other earlier cultures to have already explored were studiously airbrushed out of the Portuguese narrative and the gaping hole left by yet more airbrushing in the 1900's. As always we urge readers to dig out a school history book and look at this later period - you will learn nothing about what was happening in Portugal at that time. But worrying in that for so many generations of the more poorly educated Portuguese this is their only 'formal' understanding of their countries history. The informal narrative abounds must never be cross-referenced or made public.

+1 #1 J.Stonehouse 2018-07-25 17:26

When hearing of these 'improvements to cultural facilities' we begin to appreciate just what a huge debt Portugal owes to the EU Structural Funds and global charities like the Gulbenkian. Without them where would the big money come from for 'Portuguese culture' .... ?

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