Hospital and Caldas Museum at Caldas da Rainha
The Hospital and Caldas Museum is one of the gateways to the history of Caldas da Rainha, a city founded around the world’s first thermal hospital.
The museum tells the story of the hospital from the start of its construction to the present day.
Opened in 1999 in a building that once served as the “Caza Real” and is now known as the Royal Palace, the museum holds many treasures. We highlight two: the 16th-century Book of Commitment (18 March 1512), on illuminated parchment, which sets out “a set of rules for the proper running of the hospital” and is signed by Queen Leonor herself.
The second is the “Tábua do Almoxarife”, a 17th-century tile panel from the royal pantry of the Hospital of Nossa Senhora do Pópulo.
Visits to the Thermal Hospital and the Chapel of São Sebastião must be booked through this museum.
