National Conímbriga Museum

The museum's collection, built up since then, therefore constitutes the practically complete collection of material remains of human presence on the Conimbriga plateau, from the end of the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages, covering two millennia of occupation.

Although not a collection that stands out for its monumentality, the collection of the National Museum of Conimbriga is notable for its size and variety and overcomes the difficulties of a collection mainly composed of fragments through its educational exhibition and the incorporation of in-depth scientific knowledge of the pieces.

The permanent exhibition, comprising around 1,500 objects, is inseparable from the visitable area of the Ruins, covering around 3 hectares, where the monuments and mosaics in situ stand out, functioning as a conceptual unit that maintains the monographic nature of the original foundation.

The National Museum of Conímbriga, designated as such since 4 September 2023 by Decree-Law No. 79/2023 | DR, which establishes the creation of MMP, EPE, safeguards extraordinary heritage, landscape and environmental resources, as well as a unique relationship with the territory. The MNC team, composed of several generations of technicians, researches, disseminates and protects the long diachrony of the historiography of the ancient city(ies), still preserved by archaeological materiality.

For the reasons presented, the reserve and archaeological field (visitable and non-visitable areas) offer unique conditions for the development of an experimental science cluster, promoting interdisciplinarity in the museum space. The Museum team intends to transform the MNC into a true portal for a comprehensive understanding of the Central Region, operating as a cultural, educational and social stage, where research, shared knowledge and programming are developed as tools for bringing together local and regional communities and all audiences.

The National Museum of Conímbriga (MNC), under the supervision of Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, E.P.E., has the following mission:

· To protect and conserve the ruins;

· To promote the public exhibition of the ruins;

· To continue and develop archaeological research on the site;

· Provide services to the public in the field of conservation and restoration;

· Contribute to strengthening local and regional identity and innovative/creative territorial development;

· Raise awareness/disseminate information about the various stages of archaeological intervention, from prospecting and excavation to the museum;

· Strengthen the museum's identity and promote the creation of new audiences.

The historiography of the National Museum of Conimbriga (MNC) follows the methodological evolution of national archaeological research and museology. It should be noted that it was through scientific knowledge and international recognition that a special cultural syncretism developed between the museum and the territory, where both are essential to the identity of the other and of the whole. It is in this context of communion that the MNC's mission has been renewed with the contribution of several generations, enabling it to project the future and museology of an archaeological site, which gives rise to a museum that safeguards an archaeological field/reserve in progress.

First suggested in 1940, at the height of the excavations carried out by the Directorate-General for National Buildings and Monuments under the direction of Vergílio Correia, the Conimbriga Museum was inaugurated in 1962, under the direction of João Manuel Bairrão Oleiro.

At the time, the museum was designated as a monographic museum, as this was its specific function: to exhibit the materials collected during the excavations of the Roman city. Due to various circumstances, the Museum collected all the materials that had been found in Conimbriga since the first excavations in 1899. Furthermore, the relaunch of these excavations in 1964, in collaboration with national and foreign universities, ensured the continuity of this central aspect of the museum's activity.