4.3Galeria Municipal do Banco de Portugal
Museum • Setúbal, Setúbal
On Avenida Luísa Todi, the Banco de Portugal Municipal Gallery shows just how well Setúbal has reused its urban memory. Designed by Arnaldo Adães Bermudes in the early decades of the twentieth century, the building served for a long time as the local branch of the Bank of Portugal and still retains the solemn air of a former banking house. The two stone columns at the entrance, the eclectic composition and the revivalist echoes, with discreet Art Nouveau touches, give it a sober yet distinctive presence. In 2013, the property began a new life as a municipal gallery and started hosting exhibitions from the Museum of Setúbal. Among them was the celebrated altarpiece from the Convent of Jesus, one of the great works of sixteenth-century Portuguese painting. It is worth studying the building closely before you even step inside: few transformations tell the story of a city so well, turning a place once meant to guard wealth into one that preserves and shares heritage.
