Funchal City Guide
Museu de Arte Sacra do Funchal
The Museu de Arte Sacra Funchal, formally the Museu de Arte Sacra do Funchal, holds a collection of Flemish and Portuguese religious paintings and sculpture assembled largely from the city's own churches, a legacy of the sugar-trade wealth that once flowed through Funchal. Entry is $11.46 (€10) for adults, $5.73 (€5) for Madeira residents, and the museum runs Monday to Friday 10:00-17:30 and Saturday mornings only, 10:00-13:30, closed Sundays and public holidays. This page covers the price, the hours and what fills the galleries, a two-minute walk from the Se cathedral. The full Funchal city guide has the rest of the city.
Quick answer Price, hours, the Saturday trap, in three lines
The Sacred Art Museum costs $11.46 (€10) for adults, $5.73 (€5) for Madeira residents, and opens Monday to Friday 10:00-17:30 and Saturday 10:00-13:30 only. It is closed all day Sunday and every Saturday afternoon.
Key takeaways
- A Saturday visit has to land before 13:30; the museum shuts at lunchtime and stays shut the rest of the weekend, unlike the cathedral two minutes away
- A public guided tour in Portuguese and English runs Tuesday and Friday at 10:15 for $13.75 (€12), ticket included
- The museum's collection sits alongside Funchal cathedral and Funchal city centre on the same short walk down Avenida Arriaga
Key facts
Opening hours
| Monday-Friday | 10:00–17:30 |
|---|---|
| Saturday | 10:00–13:30 |
Closed Sundays and public holidays. Also closed Saturday afternoons.
Admission
- Adult
- $11.46 (€10)
- Reduced
- $5.73 (€5), Madeira residents. Group of 10+ via a travel agency: $6.88 (€6) without a guide, $9.74 (€8.50) with a museum guide
- Free
- Children under 12, students, local teachers, APOM/ICOM members, accredited journalists and tourism professionals, clergy
Planning it
- Time needed
- Not stated by the museum. Our routing: 45 minutes to an hour for the main collection
- Book ahead
- Optional — walk-up usually fine
- Address
- Rua do Bispo, 21, 9000-073 Funchal
The museum sells every option itself at the reception desk. No platform resells this ticket, priced from the museum's own site.
The choice is self-guided entry or the twice-weekly public tour, both bought at the same desk.
| Option | Price | Includes | Cancel | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Museum entry, adultMost visitors, any day the museum is open. | $11.46 (€10) | Self-guided visit to all galleries | Not stated | Official site |
| Museum entry, Madeira residentResidents of Madeira with proof of address. | $5.73 (€5) | Same visit, resident rate | Not stated | Official site |
| Public guided tour, Tue/Fri 10:15Anyone who wants context on the paintings rather than a self-guided read of the labels. | $13.75 (€12) | Ticket plus a guided tour, max 10 people | Not stated | Official site |
No affiliate platform resells this ticket. Buy directly from the museum, at the desk. Figures current for Q3 2026.
Tours That Pass This Part of the Centre
No platform booking includes the museum's own ticket, but these tours cover the flat centre around it. Prices are the platform's own listed US dollar figures.
from $18.84
Funchal Old Town Walking Tour
A 2 hour small-group walk through Funchal's Old Town, the Jesuits' College, the Farmers' Market, a wine lodge and a historic sweet factory.
Check Availability
from $91.89
City Highlights Tuk-Tuk Tour
A 2 hour small-group tuk-tuk ride to 25 Funchal highlights including Pico dos Barcelos, the fortress, the Cathedral and the Farmers' Market, hotel pickup included.
Check AvailabilityPrices, ratings and details are the platform's own. dollar figures are the listed prices — the platform bills in your account's currency.
What the Museum Holds, and Why Funchal Has Flemish Paintings
A Flemish-school Adoration scene from the museum's collection, part of a 2014 anniversary exhibition. Photo: Paulo SP/ Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Funchal grew rich on sugar in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and the merchants who profited from it commissioned religious art from Flanders, then the centre of the sugar-refining and shipping trade that connected Madeira to Antwerp and Bruges. The museum's collection, drawn largely from the city's own churches and convents, centres on Flemish panel paintings from that period alongside Portuguese sculpture, gold and silver liturgical objects, and vestments. It occupies a former bishop's residence on Rua do Bispo, a title the street itself keeps, two minutes from the cathedral those same merchants helped build.
Price and Hours: the Saturday Afternoon Trap
The museum's entrance sign on Rua do Bispo, easy to miss from a distance. Photo: Mattes, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Adult entry is $11.46 (€10), Madeira residents pay $5.73 (€5), and groups of 10 or more arriving through a travel agency pay $6.88 (€6) per person without a guide or $9.74 (€8.50) with one. Children under 12, students, local teachers, members of APOM and ICOM, accredited journalists and tourism professionals, and clergy all enter free. The museum opens Monday to Friday 10:00-17:30, but on Saturday it closes at 13:30, and it does not open at all on Sunday or public holidays.
A visitor timing a Saturday around an afternoon free slot elsewhere in the centre will find the doors shut here well before most other sights close for the day. There is no online ticket sale. Everything is bought at the reception desk.
Source: masf.pt/visit-us, read 2026-09-19.
The Guided Tour Option
Besides the self-guided visit, the museum runs a public guided tour in Portuguese and English on Tuesday and Friday at 10:15, priced at $13.75 (€12) per person including the entry ticket, capped at 10 people. It is the only fixed-time option the museum publishes, so it has to be planned around rather than walked into on any other day or time. Outside those two slots, entry is self-guided with printed or posted labels in the galleries.
Where the Museum Fits Against the Cathedral and Old Town
The museum sits two minutes from the Se cathedral on the same stretch of streets that anchor Funchal city centre, so it slots naturally into a morning that starts at the cathedral and continues down Avenida Arriaga. Because it closes earlier than most other paid sights on a Saturday and does not open Sunday at all, it works best as a weekday or Saturday-morning stop rather than the last item on a Sunday itinerary.
Sacred Art Museum Map: Two Minutes From the Se
The museum sits just off Avenida Arriaga, within a short walk of the cathedral and the rest of the centre.
Coordinates estimated from the museum's street address.
Next Stop From the Museum
Three places within a couple of minutes' walk of the museum.
Se cathedral
Two minutes away, free entry, open longer hours. See the cathedral guide.
Blandy's Wine Lodge
Tours from $19.48 (€17), a short walk toward the centre. See the wine lodge guide.
Funchal city centre
The rest of the centre's sights sit along Avenida Arriaga. See the city centre guide.
Sacred Art Museum Questions
How much does the Museu de Arte Sacra do Funchal cost?
$11.46 (€10) for adults, $5.73 (€5) for Madeira residents. Children under 12, students and several other categories enter free.
Is the Sacred Art Museum open on Saturday?
Only in the morning, 10:00-13:30. It closes for the afternoon and does not reopen until Monday.
Is the Sacred Art Museum open on Sunday?
No. It is closed Sundays and public holidays.
Does the Sacred Art Museum offer a guided tour?
Yes, a public guided tour in Portuguese and English runs Tuesday and Friday at 10:15, $13.75 (€12) including the ticket, capped at 10 people.
What does the Sacred Art Museum collection include?
Flemish and Portuguese religious paintings, sculpture, and gold and silver liturgical objects, largely drawn from Funchal's own churches and convents.
Sacred Art Museum on Film: Inside the Galleries
Three walkthroughs of the museum's Flemish and Portuguese collection.
Madeira Funchal Arte Sacra Museum
A walk through the museum's galleries and its Flemish-school paintings.
Video: sanda michaela ARTMuseu de Arte Sacra do Funchal (Funchal, Ilha da Madeira)
A visitor's tour of the collection room by room.
Video: Silas Lozano PazUm Dia no Museu: Museu de Arte Sacra do Funchal
A closer look at individual pieces and the building's history.
Video: Historia PortucaleVideos load from YouTube only when you press play.
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