The Father Belda Archaeological Museum

The Pottery Museum is located in the Romanesque-Mudejar Church of Santiago, dating from the late 11th and early 12th centuries, and declared a Site of Cultural Interest. This unique combination ensures visitors can enjoy both the church and its interior, which has been converted into a pottery museum.

The Pottery Museum was established to promote and promote the town’s traditional pottery craft. Many Alba families were dedicated to this craft, and its survival was essential to the town’s economy and commerce.

The museum offers a video tour of the history and production of pottery in Alba de Tormes, providing context and an insight into the importance of pottery. Some key pieces are on display to understand this tradition, which became an art form both through everyday pottery and through more decorative and elaborate filigree work.

Albense filigree is the most unique decorative element in this collection, in which the jugs and vessels become true works of art. The filigrees are layered, creating shapes inspired by floral or animal elements that are very similar to those found in nature. Among the Pottery Museum’s repertoire of works, we find examples of various types, including glazed and painted ceramics, some of them large with thousands of filigree pieces.

In addition to filigree pieces such as plates, vases, lamps, comb-shaped barrel jugs, floor jugs, cross jugs, fruit bowls, and soup tureens, you can see traditional forms such as pots for storing, preparing, and consuming food, and others for transporting, storing, and consuming liquids, in addition to other diverse uses or decorations. Depending on the intended use, the pots are displayed in coarse clay or with striking glazed decorations. Pots, buckets, casseroles, pots, barrels, plates, jugs, and countless other items complete the museum’s exhibition.

In an educational setting, the museum offers an insight into the production processes and the elements used by potters in its creation. The visit is completed with a collection of miniature toys and the famous bullfighting jugs in their various schematic or figurative designs.

The exhibition concludes with a display of decorative ceramic works created by Albacete ceramists, which have evolved from traditional pieces to modern works of art.

The Pottery Museum has a Tourist Information Point.