Museu Municipal de Lagos

Museu Municipal de Lagos, in the historic centre of Lagos near Praça Infante Dom Henrique, combines archaeological and ethnographic collections with the adjoining site of the Mercado de Escravos, the 1444 slave market that was the first of its kind in Europe. The museum's permanent collection spans Roman mosaics and coins found in the Lagos area, medieval and early modern religious art, model ships reflecting the town's maritime and fishing traditions, and ethnographic displays of regional costume and crafts. A dedicated space addresses the history of the slave market and the transatlantic slave trade, presented with historical panels and documentary material. The museum is arranged thematically rather than strictly chronologically, moving between archaeology, religious art, maritime history and the slavery exhibition across a series of connected rooms in the historic building. It adjoins the Igreja de Santo António, whose interior of gilded Baroque woodwork is included in the same visit and is considered among the finest in the Algarve. The museum underwent renovation in the 2010s to modernise its display cases and expand the documentation of the slave market history, while retaining the character of the older municipal building it occupies.