Museu dos Biscainhos

Museu dos Biscainhos is housed in the Palácio dos Biscainhos, a Baroque noble residence in central Braga built in the second half of the 17th century and expanded through the 18th century by the Pinto Coelho de Sá family, whose descendants donated the house and its contents to the state in 1975. The museum preserves the palace largely as a lived-in aristocratic residence rather than a purpose-built gallery, with period rooms furnished with 17th- and 18th-century Portuguese and imported furniture, azulejo tile panels lining the ground-floor carriage passage, painted ceilings, and a collection of decorative arts including porcelain, silverware, and textiles typical of a provincial noble household of the period. A distinctive feature is the ground-floor stone-paved passage designed so that carriages could drive directly through the house into the formal garden behind it, a layout that reflects 18th-century domestic architecture adapted to Braga's hilly urban terrain. The formal garden, with clipped boxwood parterres, statuary, and a small lake, extends the Baroque symmetry of the house into the landscape and is included in the museum visit. Presentation follows the palace's original room sequence rather than a themed curatorial arrangement, moving visitors from the carriage passage through reception rooms, a chapel, and private chambers on the upper floor. Restoration has focused on conserving the azulejo panels and painted ceilings while keeping the family's original furniture arrangement largely intact.