Casa do Major Pessoa (Art Nouveau Museum), Aveiro
In the canal city of Aveiro, a house carved like lacework: the showpiece of Portuguese Art Nouveau.
At a glance
Aveiro, the lagoon city sometimes called the Venice of Portugal, is the capital of Portuguese Arte Nova, and the Casa do Major Pessoa is its finest house. Built between 1907 and 1909 to designs by Francisco Augusto da Silva Rocha and Ernesto Korrodi for Mário Belmonte Pessoa, its stone front is carved into flowing Art Nouveau forms. It is now the country’s Art Nouveau Museum.
Key facts
- Location: Rua Dr. Barbosa de Magalhães, Aveiro
- Architects: Francisco Augusto da Silva Rocha and Ernesto Korrodi
- Built: 1907–1909
- Style: Portuguese Arte Nova (Art Nouveau)
- Today: Museu de Arte Nova (Art Nouveau Museum)
History
Aveiro grew rich on salt, ceramics and the sea, and around 1900 its merchants built houses in the new Arte Nova, often faced with the carved stone and tile the region produced. Silva Rocha, the local champion of the style, and Korrodi designed this house for Major Pessoa.
Completed in 1909, it became the emblem of Aveiro’s Art Nouveau. Restored, it opened as the Museu de Arte Nova, telling the story of the style in Portugal from inside one of its best examples.
What you see
The façade is carved limestone worked into curling Art Nouveau ornament, with a wrought-iron balcony and tiled panels, reflected in the canal water nearby. Inside, restored rooms and a tearoom show the period taste. It is a small building that carries a whole movement, the Portuguese Art Nouveau at its most refined.
Practical information
- Open: as a museum; closed Mondays
- Cost: museum admission
- Best for: the carved façade and the period interiors
- Time needed: 30–45 minutes
Getting there
The house is in central Aveiro, beside the canals, a short walk from the railway station and the heart of the lagoon city, an hour south of Porto by train.
Nearby
- Aveiro canals — the lagoon waterways and moliceiro boats
- Aveiro railway station — itself tiled in azulejos, nearby
Sources
- Wikipedia — Casa do Major Pessoa
- Câmara Municipal de Aveiro / Museu de Arte Nova — building information
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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