Soares dos Reis National Museum

Wonderful art gallery and museum, a highlight of our visit to Porto. Superb selection of artefacts and art, displayed excellently in a beautiful 19th century building.

A wonderful museum you simply must visit, with a large exhibition space. We discovered a number of Portuguese artists we had not heard of before, and they have an impressive oeuvre. The works of Henrique Pousão and his tragic fate touched us the most.

A small but interesting museum with a mix oh heritage history, sculptures and paintings a very good diversion from the hustle and bustle of Porto. It can be easily covered in about 2 hours and its very close to Crystal Park so it makes a great combination trip. I was particularly impressed by a couple of exceptional sculptures

A nice sized museum that gives you a glimpse into Portuguese painting, sculpture and architecture. There are two gardens that are worth spending time in. The one on the lowest floor features camellias and beautiful tiled walls. The one on the top floor was once a velodrome and now showcases many stone ruins brought to the site from different parts of the city

This is Portugal’s first public art museum, originally founded in 1833 by King Pedro IV as the Museu Portuense (Museum Portuense). It was renamed in 1911 following the donation of works by the celebrated sculptor António Soares dos Reis. Since 1942, the museum has been housed in the Palácio dos Carrancas (Carrancas Palace), a neoclassical mansion built in the late 18th to early 19th century, which once served as the residence of Portuguese nobility and foreign military commanders. Between 1992 and 2001, the museum underwent major renovations to modernize and expand its exhibition areas. The palace’s original layout was designed by Joaquim da Costa Lima Sampaio, while the renovation was led by the Fernando Távora architectural studio. Today, the museum houses a diverse collection of over 18,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, glassware, metalwork, textiles, furniture, and jewelry. It places particular emphasis on the art of Soares dos Reis and on Portuguese painting and sculpture from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Fabulous collection. I normally would spend only an hour and a half in an art museum. Instead we spent 3 hours. The staff in the galleries were curators and could really help explain the paintings and objects. Sonia was especially knowledgeable and wonderful.

A lovely gallery which is well laid out and arranged into the different eras of the collections it houses. I learnt a lot and there are some lovely landscapes, portraits and modernist pieces. It didn’t take me too long to have a good look around Helpful staff too!

Really interesting and historical journey through Portuguese art from the 18th/19th century. The gallery has paintings, sculpture, jewellery, religious artifacts and all manner of items over 3 floors. Some stunning paintings and astounding jewellery the likes I have not seen before. I was very impressed. My partner and I sent a good 2 hours here mea dering and learning. There is also a small garden you could sit in if you decided to take your own lunch. The staff here are also wonderful and welcoming. At 12 euros for both of us to visit it was well worth it.

The permanent collection is currently closed due to covid with no reopening date, so it's just temporary exhibitions for now The Dom Pedro exhibition was small and only of interest to aficionados of Portuguese history Italian/Portuguese Masters was really just drawings. Most weren't very interesting and of the Real Masters there was only one I spotted - a Leonardo da Vinci If you're in the area maybe it's worth dropping by but I don't think it was worth going out of your way to visit (it's a bit out of the way compared to other sights) and paying 3€. At least while the permanent collection is out of commission

Love this museum. For me visiting a city in a foreign land starts always with museum. The museum in Porto in kinda unknown but lovely. Definitely a must visit place in Porto. Yeah, there are so many place to visit, but museum is my thing in any cities in the world.