The Hospital Colónia Rovisco Pais Museum is located in one of the wings of the chapel of the former hospital, which is part of the complex of buildings of the Rehabilitation Medicine Center of the Central Region – Rovisco Pais (Tocha, Cantanhede).
In its permanent exhibition, it exhibits to the public, for the first time, a significant set of cultural and scientific heritage from the former Hospital Colónia Rovisco Pais. The exhibition route invites the visitor to discover the last Portuguese leprosarium, through fragments of the past (objects, photographs and documents), representative of the activities carried out in that Colonial Hospital and includes the following thematic nuclei:
Hospital Colónia Rovisco Pais, the last and only national leprosarium;
Chronology of the fight and eradication of Hansen’s disease in Portugal;
The disease and the sick;
The laboratory, pharmacy and treatments;
Clinical assistance;
Daily life in the therapeutic village;
Assistance to the family of patients with Hansen;
The visitor will be able to unveil memories and experiences of its “actors” – patients and employees, discover the specificities of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of one of the oldest diseases – Hansen’s Disease, also known as Leprosy.
A visit to the NMHCRP also constitutes an authentic “time travel” to the history of medicine, health and social assistance in the 20th century, which will certainly incite its visitors to reflect, as holistically as possible, around the health process or binomial /disease, based on the example that serves as the theme for this new exhibition space.
The design of the HCRP Museum, long sought after by the Centro de Medicina de Medicina de Reabilitação da Região Centro – Rovisco Pais, was guided by a strong commitment to materialized sustainability principles, whether in the optimization of costs and resources, or in the processes of awareness, rescue and restoration of heritage. This commitment, and the reuse of materials and furniture from the old hospital, results in the fact that, in this space, everything constitutes, in itself, a “vehicle” of history, identity and collective memory.
Visits
The museum is not open daily. Visiting the museum is free and must be booked in advance through the following contacts:
Message: https://www.facebook.com/hansenstories/
Telephone: 231440966
Email: secretariado.roviscopais@ulscoimbra.min-saude.pt or through the form below.
Outside these dates, visits are subject to availability of services, require prior booking at least 72 hours in advance, and are usually only available to groups of 10 people. Each group must not exceed 30 adults.
The NMHCRP has access ramps to the exhibition space for visitors with reduced mobility.
Adress
Chapel of the former Colonia Rovisco Pais Hospital
Quinta da Fonte Quente, Inácios, 3060-673 Tocha (Cantanhede)
National Road 109.
20 min. from Figueira da Foz or from Cantanhede.
At 45 min. from Coimbra.
Events and Activities
