Do we want to know how shoes were made a hundred years ago, or how people cooked, or what games were played? No problem: ethnographic museums are the memory of our culture. To find out how we lived, both centuries ago and the day before yesterday, there is nothing better than visiting one of them. Here we have six examples:
Liste Museum (Vigo). This museum houses the ethnographic collection gathered by Olimpio Liste Regueiro and Josefina Fernández Mosquera. The aim of the centre is to disseminate and conserve Galician cultural heritage, showing us how things were done in the past, what tools were used, what customs there were… and how everything has evolved up to the present day. It has a permanent exhibition that occupies three floors and is organised into various themed rooms: Weavings, Symbology of the trades, The lock, Excavated wood, Light, The materiality of faith, The art of healing and Traditional crops. It also has space for temporary exhibitions and educational activities and a reference library on Galician anthropology. It is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00. Wednesdays, also in the afternoon, from 17:00 to 19:00.
Ethnographic Park of the Arnoia River (Allariz). In this park you can visit three spaces: the Muíño do Burato, the Museum of Weaving “O Fiadeiro” and the Leather Museum “Fábrica de curtidos familia Nogueiras”. In them we find the representation of what were traditionally the economic engines of the area, linked to the river Arnoia. The Muíño do Burato, in the Matadeiro square, is a hydraulic turbine mill, with two millstones and an electric motor in one of them. The building has been restored and, when there are visitors, a miller shows the milling process in situ. Nearby is the Weaving Museum, where the process of weaving linen and wool is shown. In the Leather Museum, on the river bank, the tannery piles and the whole repertoire of tools used to treat the skins are preserved. On the first floor, a craftsman works with leather, and there is a room for workshops. The opening hours from October to June are: Fridays from 17:00 to 19:00 and Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00. In summer, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:00 to 14:00 and Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 20:00.
Casa do Patrón Museum (Lalín). In the village of Codesade, in Doade, we find this house, which is actually a complex of three buildings, with 15 rooms in which more than 4,500 pieces collected from all over Galicia are exhibited. The recreations of an old school, a tavern, the outbuildings of a house, an oven, a forge… stand out. All of them, in great detail, take us on a real journey through time. There is also a room with pieces from the castro do Penedo. On the other hand, during the year, the museum organises participative projects to learn about traditional tasks such as the malla, the mowing, the magosto… There are also other types of activities: hiking routes, basket-making… In addition to all this, there is a restaurant service and the recreation area “Entre ríos”, with several restored mills. Open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00.
Ethnographic site of O Cebreiro. Here, at the entrance to the French Way, is where we have to come if we want to know how people used to live in a palloza, the traditional construction of the Os Ancares mountain range. The complex is made up of four pallozas, three of which are musealised: the one from O Quico, from Xan López and from Galán. In them, the traditional interior spaces were recreated: the ástrago for the people and the estravariza or courtyard for the livestock. They are equipped with many pieces of daily life, tools, chests, benches, etc. Between October and June, they can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday between 11:00 and 14:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00; the rest of the year, from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 15:00 to 19:00.
Ethnographic Museum of Quiroga. It is located on the ground floor of the Municipal Auditorium of Quiroga, in Calle Real. More than 1,000 pieces collected in the area of the O Courel Mountains Geopark, between Folgoso do Courel, Ribas de Sil and Quiroga, are exhibited here. Many elements revolve around the world of wine, chestnuts, oil and honey, which are very important for the economy of the area. There are also instruments related to the countryside and livestock farming, and the recreation of a lareira (traditional kitchen) and a unitary school. And more curious things: the model of the sets of the animation The Apostle, which simulates a traditional mountain village; a car made by Salvador Ontiveros and the first printing press in the area, that of the shop “El derroche”. Open from Monday to Friday between 13:00 and 14:00 and Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 12:00 to 13:00.
Ethnographic Museum of Artes (Ribeira). It is located in the Centro Recreativo y Cultural de Artes, in San Xián de Artes, and occupies three exhibition rooms. There are around 1,400 objects that have to do with the trades of the early 19th century and with everything related to rural and seafaring life in the area of O Barbanza, as well as life in the home, including a recreation of the kitchen, and the traditions of the pilgrimage. There is a wide variety of objects of all kinds: the first boat engines built in Ribeira, a dorna (an old traditional boat), a piano more than a century old… It can be visited between 11:00 and 13:00 and 17:00 and 19:00. On Saturdays, only in the afternoon and, in summer, until 21:00.
Ethnographic Museum of Vilariño de Conso. Vilariño de Conso is well known for its carnival, with its fulións and boteiros, and for the nature that surrounds it, in the middle of the Macizo Central of Ourense, next to the park of O Invernadoiro. But, to get to know it in depth, to go to its roots, there is nothing like going to this museum, where we can find pieces in very good condition and of great interest, such as shepherd’s horns and capes, primitive machines to crush rye, looms to make linen… Moreover, it is easy to find, as it is located in the street of the Museum, in the same building as the town hall, with which it also shares opening hours, from Monday to Friday, from 8:30 to 14:30.
Ethnological Museum. Ribadavia. The museum, state-owned and managed by the Xunta de Galicia, occupies the well-known pazo of Baamonde, in the centre of Ribadavia. It houses an important ethnographic collection, including a photographic and sound collection, with a wide variety of themes. Although many pieces from our past are preserved here, this is a museum of its time, very active and closely linked to today’s world. It has a busy calendar of temporary exhibitions, conferences, workshops, concerts, presentations, screenings… It is a real driving force in the cultural life of Ribadavia. It is open from Tuesday to Saturday between 10:00 and 20:00.
