Interpretive Center of Ceramic Handicrafts

“A designação «louças de Prado», essa, não se apagou com a mesma facilidade com que se extinguiu o concelho. (…) Várias décadas depois da reforma administrativa, ainda as louças aqui produzidas eram chamadas «de Prado».”

Eugénio Lapa Carneiro
in As Olarias de Prado, 2ª Ed., 1966

Interpretive Center of Ceramic Handicrafts

The Interpretive Center of Ceramic Handicrafts is dedicated to the preservation, study, dissemination, and enhancement of traditions associated with ceramic production in the region, as well as the tangible and intangible heritage linked to it.

It is located in the building that once housed the old Prado Town Hall, in the oldest urban core of the town and the center of a pottery tradition that shaped the region’s economy for centuries. Likely constructed in the 17th century, the façade bears the coat of arms of the Loureiro family, attributed to a noble supporter of Philip II. On April 15, 1846, during the Maria da Fonte Revolt, the building was stormed by locals who destroyed the municipal archive. The municipality of Prado was abolished in 1855 when Vila Verde was created. The building later became the residence of the illustrious writer Dom João de Castro, who lived there during the last decades of his life. It also served as the headquarters of the Prado Pigeon Fanciers Society and as a kindergarten.

The Interpretive Center of Ceramic Handicrafts offers visitors the opportunity to learn about the traditional “Loiças de Prado” and the most notable features of local ceramic production, inviting them to work clay on the potter’s wheel. It includes a workshop for visitors and artisans and spaces for activity promotion—a space of memory, knowledge, creativity, and cultural enjoyment.