Museum of Santa Casa da Misericórdia

This museum is housed in a building dating from 1593, the former College of St. Augustine, which belonged to the Monastery of Santa Cruz, of the Order of Canons Regular of St. Augustine. Also known as the “New College” or “College of Wisdom,” the building was constructed in the Mannerist style designed by Italian architect Filippo Terzi.

After the extinction of religious orders in Portugal, the property became the property of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Coimbra. The church, archive, and museum of the Misericórdia, which houses several works of art, still operate here. In 1841, the institution transferred its orphans here, and the space became known as the “College of Orphans.” At the end of the 20th century, the University of Coimbra leased part of the building to house the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences.

The Santa Casa da Misericórdia Museum houses a collection of works of art and hosts temporary exhibitions. Founded in 2000, during the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the Misericórdia, it has an exhibition space and a room where various works of art belonging to the Santa Casa da Misericórdia collection are kept. The museum space is divided into the Old Boardroom or Office, the Old Room of Portraits of Benefactors, the Gallery of Portraits of the Brotherhood, the Chapel, the Sacristy, the Cloister, and the Clock Tower. In the chapel, built in 1593, the highlights are the vault of the chancel, richly decorated with sacred and Christian symbols and profane elements alluding to Portuguese maritime epic, and an 18th-century pipe organ with a carved wooden case.