São João Da Madeira: Industrial History, Art and Parks

São João Da Madeira brings together themes from the hat and footwear industries, art venues and green spaces. Former production buildings, museums and parks offer different points of interest for planning your trip. The town can also be viewed as a significant urban centre in the Porto metropolitan area.

Hat and footwear heritage

The Museu da Chapelaria opened on 22 June 2005 in the former building of Empresa Industrial da Chapelaria. The building on Rua Oliveira Júnior is simply and symmetrically designed; this style reflects a period in the history of Portuguese architecture. Themed visits can be arranged on the history of the hat industry, how a hat is made, and technical and technological developments.

The Museu do Calçado documents the history of the footwear industry in São João Da Madeira and the development of shoe design in Portugal in the 20th century. It also explores technological and creative developments in the 21st century. As a place for learning, creativity and experimentation, it invites visitors to engage with the subject interactively and critically. All areas are accessible to visitors with reduced mobility via ramps or a lift. The hat and footwear museums thus offer different perspectives on industrial history.

More insights into production

The former Oliva sewing machine factory houses a themed tour on the metal industry of São João Da Madeira. The Welcome Center at Torre Oliva accepts reservations for factory visits, arranges industrial guides and allows visitors to sign up for workshops.

At the Centro de Formação Profissional da Indústria de Calçado, visitors can see craft tools and former footwear-industry machines. At the Centro Tecnológico do Calçado de Portugal, visitors can observe how a shoe testing laboratory works. Viarco preserves a traditional process for making graphite and coloured pencils. These examples range from preserved manufacturing know-how to an insight into shoe testing.

Art and cultural venues

The Centro de Arte Oliva regularly presents and interprets the visual arts of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as contemporary and outsider art. The Norlinda e José Lima collection contains approximately 1,200 works of art. It includes around 250 Portuguese and approximately 230 international artists; the works date from 1926 to 2019.

The Treger Saint Silvestre collection includes painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, tapestry and photography, as well as electrical mechanisms and repurposed objects. The collections thus bring together a range of materials and forms of expression.

Paços da Cultura is housed in the renovated former town hall, which has been converted into a versatile cultural centre. Its facilities include an auditorium with 191 seats, a municipal exhibition gallery and the Sala da Memória. Casa da Criatividade is housed in a former cinema building and was built to a design by architect Filipe Oliveira Dias.

Parks and green spaces

Parque de Nossa Senhora dos Milagres is the oldest park in the municipality. The grounds include a fitness trail and cycle path, as well as a picnic area, playground, tea room, lake and bridge. Landscaped areas with benches complete the park, bringing together places for exercise and relaxation.

Parque do Rio Ul has visitor facilities and observation areas, as well as information on fauna, flora and biodiversity. Parque Ferreira de Castro was established as a public recreational space on the rural part of an estate acquired by the municipality. The two parks therefore have different stated focuses: Parque do Rio Ul offers opportunities for observation and information about nature, while Parque Ferreira de Castro was created as a recreational space.

Planning your stay

When choosing a hotel, it may help to first consider your interests: the museums and production sites offer a different focus from the art collections or parks. Bus journeys on São João Da Madeira’s municipal TUS network are free for all users. REDE UNIR buses operate in São João Da Madeira and the surrounding Porto metropolitan area, using the Andante ticketing system. These details relate to different transport services and can be taken into account when planning your journeys.

Discover more destinations: São João Da Madeira, Estarreja, Gafanha Da Boa Hora, Águeda, Caves Aliança, Ilhavo, Murtosa, Ovar.

For the overview of the wider region: Aveiro.