Museum of Flour

The museum preserves a flour mill built in 1925 with all its equipment in working order – the Fábrica de Moagem de José Mateus Vilhena. It is located in the village of São Domingos in southern Portugal, a rich area for grain production. The mill worked for 59 years. It opened to the public as a museum in 2014. The two-storey building was built simply, with brick and rammed-earth walls and zinc roofs. The machinery was built mainly of wood and powered by a traction engine that could also be used to thresh the grain at the harvest. The complete journey from grain to flour is visible to visitors. The museum is operated by the company JMV-Turismo Cultural in association with the municipality of Santiago do Cacém. It aims to preserve and disseminate the region’s rural and industrial heritage, including oral testimony, crafts and arts, customs, music and gastronomy.