Portalegre Tapestry Museum

The Portalegre Tapestry Museum, Museu da Tapeçaria de Portalegre Guy Fino, is a museum of the tapestries woven in Portalegre since the 1940s, opened in July 2001 in the former house of the Caldeira Castelo-Branco family on Rua da Figueira. The tapestries use the Portalegre stitch, a technique that reproduces the works of painters in wool with great accuracy.

Works by painters such as Almada Negreiros, Vieira da Silva, Graça Morais and Le Corbusier have been woven in Portalegre.

What to see at the Portalegre Tapestry Museum

History of the manufacture: the story of the Portalegre tapestry manufacture and the technique of weaving a tapestry.
Tapestries: a display of tapestries in the order in which they were made, from the late 1940s to the present day.
The building: a noble house with an 18th-century portal, restored by the architect Fernando Sequeira Mendes.

History of the Portalegre tapestry

Late 1920s: Manuel do Carmo Peixeiro invents a new tapestry stitch, later known as the Portalegre stitch.
1946: Guy Fino and Manuel Celestino Peixeiro, the inventor's son, set up a tapestry manufacture in Portalegre using the new stitch.
Late 1940s: the first tapestries after works by Portuguese painters are woven.
July 2001: the Tapestry Museum opens.

Visiting the Portalegre Tapestry Museum

Location: the museum is on Rua da Figueira, in the historic centre of Portalegre.
The manufacture: tapestries are still woven in the city, and visits to the manufacture are by appointment.
Opening times: the Portalegre Municipality publishes current opening times and prices.