Museu da Fundacao do Coa, Central Portugal, Portugal
4.5 (462 reviews) Monday: Spent 1-2 hours Ranking #1 in Guarda District Speciality Museums • Science Museums
Fascinating presentation
The final seventeen kilometres of the Coa valley contain hundreds of Palaeolithic engravings along the river’s banks, extending all the way to the River Douro. This zone has been made into Portugal’s first Archaeological Park. This Park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on 2 December 1998. This entire open-air art collection, which buries the old myth of rock art only existing in caves, is exhibited in the Museum through original pieces of movable art, replicas of “rock panels” and interactive zones that use modern digital technology. The art can also be viewed in loco on organised visits to the valley with specialised guides (advance booking required). Visit also (no advance booking required) the Museum which provides an overview of the Ice Age Coa Valley rock-art, its archaeological context as well as magnificent views over the Coa and Douro rivers. Museum opening times: High season: 09:00 AM - 06:00 PM; Closes at lunchtime (01:00 PM - 02-00 PM) in low season from the 20th of October until the last day of February. Closed on Mondays, 1st of January, 1st of May and 25th of December.
Address
Rua do Museu Parque Arqueológico do Vale do Côa, Vila Nova de Foz Coa 5150-610 Portugal
Mobile
Website
http://www.arte-coa.pt
Working hours
Monday :
Tuesday : 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday : 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday : 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday : 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday : 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Sunday : 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Current local date and time now
Monday, May 13, 2024, 9:18
User Ratings
4.5 based on (462 reviews)
Reviews
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4Anne-Marie K 5:00 PM May 30, 2022
Beautiful Museum
Fantastic content, absolutely gorgeous building. Friendly and helpful staff. Next time we will book a guide and go into the field because we could have learned much more (not the museum's fault!). Beautiful place to visit.
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4JR C 5:00 PM Feb 25, 2020
All about rock art
This museum is a good companion piece to excursions to see the Paleolithic lithographs. The audioguide is not too helpful: some segments wouldn't load, and the individual segments varied from informative to very superficial. Visually though, mostly a helpful overview of the creation of the lithographs, comparison of styles, and some good replicas showing better detail than the "real" images. Particularly helpful were the magnifying glasses for viewing smaller engravings and being able to see fine detail. A lot of the information was in English - much appreciated. It could be a bit more detailed for a real enthusiast, but provides a fairly good introduction. Note that the guides on the excursions reiterate a lot of the info given in the museum such as dates, carving techniques and details on Paleolithic life but this museum effectively provides that material.
