Horta Museum: Centuries of History in an Unfinished Jesuit College

Not every museum picks its building by chance. Horta Museum occupies a Jesuit college that was never finished — and that unfinished story became, in itself, part of the heritage the museum preserves.

A college the Jesuits never completed

The museum is housed in the former Jesuit College, an imposing 18th-century building next to Faial’s Mother Church, left unfinished after the Jesuits were expelled from Portugal in 1760. Classified as a Regional Monument, the building was assigned to the museum in 1977, through regional decree.

From the 16th century to the present day

As a historical museum with a regional focus, the collection spans a period from the 16th century to today: ethnography tied to traditional linen, wool, and pottery techniques; objects related to Horta’s harbour and the submarine cable stations that operated on the island between the 19th and 20th centuries; sacred art; paintings by artists such as António Dacosta, Sousa Pinto, and Vieira Lusitano; and photographic and manuscript documents.

A collection unique in the world

Since 1980, the museum has permanently displayed a collection of sculptures carved in fig-tree pith — a rare technique, practised by a single artist, Euclides Rosa, born on Faial, who passed away in 1979. No comparable collection of this Azorean folk art exists anywhere else in the world.

Two sites, one story

Since 2016, Horta Museum has been made up of two sites: the Jesuit College, its main seat, and the Manuel de Arriaga House, opened to the public in 2011, dedicated to the memory of Portugal’s first President of the Republic, elected on 24 August 1911 — a republican intellectual born on Faial.

Planning your visit

• Location: next to the Mother Church, in the centre of Horta.
• Sites: the Jesuit College and the Manuel de Arriaga House.
• What to see: the fig-tree-pith collection, sacred art, and objects tied to the submarine cables.

Best time to visit

Any time of year works for a visit, ideal as a complement to a rainy day in Horta.

Nearby highlights

Horta Marina and Peter Café Sport are just a few minutes’ walk away.

After the museum, walk through Horta’s historic centre to the marina, to see more of the same maritime history this Jesuit building helps preserve.