Caramulo, 7th October, 2022

For those who haven’t read previous articles on the Museu do Caramulo, perhaps a brief resume of its history is in order. It is located in the remote small mountain town of Caramulo in central Portugal, which came into being around 1920 when Doctor Jeronimo Lacerda established a tuberculosis sanatorium in the location. The town itself evolved and grew as a support structure for those who worked there and for visitors to patients. Dr Lacerda had two sons, Abel and Joao, who were both born in the town. With the advent of new antibiotics that all but eradicated the disease during the fifties, the sanatorium became virtually redundant. However, they loved their town and its location, and thus worked towards providing longevity and stability for its economy.

The first step was to convert some of the facilities to provide accommodation and to encourage “altitude tourism”. The next phase was to build an art museum, which was completed in 1959. Part of which was used to house Joao’s classic car collection. The museum proved to be the key to the stability they sought, particularly the popularity of the automobile display, so it was decided to construct a new building specifically to house the cars, which opened in 1970, just a few steps across the street from the main building. The latest phase of the development has been the opening of the “Caramulo Experience Centre”, which is housed in a 2400 square metres facility on the edge of the town. Here there is a display area for cars and motorcycles, for which there is no space for display in the museum, together with a restoration and maintenance shop, plus storage facility.

This new feature enables visitors to see work in progress on various projects, and also to get an appreciation of what is involved in the sometimes complex restoration of classic vehicles. The centre also has an expansive document collection, featuring thousands of car brochures and manuals, which can be perused by visitors, and even copied upon request. To maximise the use of the building there is a first floor gallery providing an overview of the workshop and display areas, off which are suites that can be rented for corporate or private functions. A further service available to visitors is rides or drives in classic cars, which have to be arranged in advance.

Apart from the regular museum display vehicles, they also have regular themed display exhibitions, which are held in the ground floor galleries of the original art museum. The summer 2022 exhibition featured classic and current supercars, amongst which were Porsches in the form of a 918 Spyder and a Carrera GT, a Jaguar XJ220, a Lamborghini Diablo VT, a McLaren 675 LT Spider, a lurid orange Mercedes-AMG GT Black Edition, an Aston Martin V12 Roadster and a Ferrari Monza SP2, the latter finished in the pale green colour of the 250 GTO, chassis 3505GT.

A bonus of a visit to the museum is the scenic drive up through the hills from the highway, worth doing for that alone!

Daily Opening Times
10.00 – 13.00/14.00 – 18.00

Museum Admission Prices Including Caramulo Experience Centre
6 – 15 Years Old - €8
Adults - €16
Guided Tour/Person - €35

Keith Bluemel
10/2022