Museum of Guarda

The museum was founded in 1940 by the Municipality and, from 1985 to 2015 this cultural equipment was under state supervision, being under municipality supervision since then. The mission of the museum is the study, conservation and dissemination of its various collections, as well as the development of cultural extension actions that foster its communication capacity, thus fulfilling its relevant public service tasks.The architectural set began being built in the beginning of the 17th century, under the aegis of the Bishop of Guarda D. Nuno de Noronha. Inserted in the Chão style, it displays façades of great austerity, stripped of any decorative elements, except the cornice, where typical cannon gargoyles are inserted. It is a large architectural U-plant set, in the center of which the Chapel of the Episcopal Palace was built, flanked south by the body of the former Seminary where the Museum of Guarda is installed and north by the former Episcopal Palace, current Museum / Paço da Cultura and Cultural Center of Guarda. The building has a façade with three bodies, being the one in the center the church, topped by a half-circle pediment rising above the cornice. The lateral bodies are continuous eaves with striated conical gargoyles. One must highlight the cloister and heraldic symbols and, concerning decoration, the shells, palmettes, volutes, ribbons, braids and geometric motifs.