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Condes de Castro Guimaraes Museum

The Condes de Castro Guimaraes museum is the most architectural interesting building in Cascais, from one side there are mock neo-gothic towers while the rear is as traditional as Portugal gets. It was the fantasy building of Condes de Castro a multi-millionaire who constructed in 1902. On his death this great stately home was converted into the first museum in Cascais which displays much of his personal art collection. The most significant item in the collection is a novel from the 16th century based on the adventures of king Alfonso Henriques.

Tourist Information

The Condes de Castro Guimaraes museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday but shut on Monday. The opening hours are from 10:00 until 17:00 and there is no entrance fee as with all museums in Cascais. The Condes de Castro Guimaraes museum is located in the southern end of the Marechal Park which was once part of the grounds of the house and faces across the coastal road to the Atlantic ocean and the newly constructed Cascais marina. Visitors typically will spend less than 30 minutes wandering the restored rooms but much longer in the grounds that surround the museum.

Further Information and History

The stately home was known as Torre de São Sebastião (Tower of Saint Sebastiao) before being converted into the Condes de Castro Guimaraes museum in 1930. The outside of Condes de Castro Guimaraes museum is intriguing with the main portion of the building facing inland painted yellow and adorned with traditional Portuguese tile paintings (azulejos). The seaward facing side more closely resembles a fortress with a large stone worked tower reaching from the small bay in front of the castle to a fairy castle spire.

The fortress theme is continued with the wall that encircle the Condes de Castro Guimaraes museum with its delightful arching water ways, which were constructed purely for decorative effect. The main entrance leads to a small central courtyard surrounded by Moorish inspired arches. During high tides the base of the house is lapped by the waves of the Atlantic.

All of the rooms of the Condes de Castro Guimaraes museum are open for visitors to explore and contain paintings and images of important figures of Portugal during the late 19 and early 20th century. Each of the rooms is laid out as it would have been at the turn of the last century, and each display has compressive description in both Portuguese and English. Contained within the library under a substantial glass display case is the 16th century “Chronicles of king Alfonso Henriques” this ancient book was written by Duarte Galvao and the page opened for display contains a very early image of Lisbon.

The Condes de Castro Guimaraes museum was constructed in 1900 by Jorge O’Neil who was of Irish nobility and a close personal friend of King Carlos I of Portugal. The stately house was originally known as the Torre de São Sebastião (Tower of Saint Sebastiao) named after the small 17th century chapel which stands opposite, the Capela de São Sebastião(Chapel of Saint Sebastian). After 10 years of ownership Jorge O’Neil was forced into bankruptcy and made to sell his beloved home.

The Tower of Saint Sebastiao was sold to the Count of Castro de Guimaraes who modified the house to suit his personnel tastes and many of the objects which are on display are from his personnel collection. The count and countess died with no clear descendants and in their will the Tower of Saint Sebastiao was given over the people of Cascais as the first public museum of the town.

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