Aveiro Museum, Monastery of Jesus

The Aveiro Museum is the museum of Aveiro, in the former Monastery of Jesus, a convent of Dominican nuns founded in 1458 by D. Brites Leitão and D. Mécia Pereira. Princess Joana, daughter of King Afonso V, entered the convent in 1472 and lived there until her death in 1490, and her Baroque tomb is the best-known piece of the museum.

The convent passed to the municipality in 1911, when the museum was created, and the church is classified as a National Monument.

What to see at the Aveiro Museum

Tomb of Princess Joana: a tomb of polychrome marble in the lower choir, designed by the royal architect João Antunes between 1699 and 1711.
Church of Jesus: a church lined with gilded carved wood and Portuguese tiles, whose chancel was made between 1725 and 1729 by the carvers António Gomes and José Correia and the painter Manuel Ferreira e Sousa.
Cloister: the cloister with its chapels, the chapter house and the old refectory.
Collections: painting, sculpture, carved wood, tiles, goldsmiths' work and furniture, from the 15th to the 20th century. Among them are the Gothic tomb of the knight D. João de Albuquerque, a Holy Family by Machado de Castro and a 15th-century portrait of Princess Joana.

History of the Aveiro Museum

1458: the Convent of Jesus is founded, one of the oldest in Aveiro.
1472: Princess Joana enters the convent, where she lives until her death in 1490.
1693: Joana is beatified, and her cult spreads.
1699 to 1711: João Antunes builds her marble tomb.
1725 to 1729: the chancel of the church is carved and painted.
1911: the convent passes to the municipality, the church is classified as a National Monument, and the museum is created by João Augusto Marques Gomes.

Visiting the Aveiro Museum

Two routes: the visit covers the monastic spaces and the permanent exhibition of sacred art.
Location: the museum is on Avenida Santa Joana, in the city centre.
Patron saint: Princess Joana is the patron of Aveiro, and the municipal holiday falls on 12 May, the day of her death.