Portugal’s first museum of the paper industry is in the community of Santa Maria da Feira, south of Oporto. People in the region were engaged in the making of paper from the early eighteenth century, but the last mills stopped working before the end of the twentieth century.
The museum is owned by the local municipality and is located in two former paper Mills, the Azvedos Mill, and the Custódio factory, a water-powered mill dating from 1822 that had new machinery installed in the late nineteenth century and continued working until 1989. There are displays of the various kinds of paper made in the locality, and of watermarks and tools, but the old machines are perhaps the most important exhibits.
Museum of the Papermaking Region of Santa Maria
Museu do Papel Terras de Santa Maria
Rua de Rio Maior 338
45-309 Pacos de Brandao
Portugal
+351 (0) 227 - 442947
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