PRESENTATION

Museo de las Alhajas en la Vía de la Plata (Museum of Jewellery in the Silver Way)

The Museum of Jewellery in the Silver Way, opened in 2011, is located in the Casa de Doña Josefina, a modernist building constructed at the beginning of the 20th century.

It is a tribute to folk art, to the people’s feeling, our traditions from the Old Kingdom of Leon in the Silver Way. This tribute is done through the work of the authors of the past: the great jewellers of the 16th century and the best embroiderers of the 19th century.

It contains perhaps the best collection of traditional civil jewellery in Spain, an art almost lost because almost all the pieces that constituted it have disappeared over the centuries.

The Museum consists of seven rooms organised by ages and type of exhibits:

The childhood room (Room I) shows the care and protection offered to the newborn through amulets and very colourful clothes constantly intermingled. Mortality during the first weeks of life required a special care.

The youth room (Room II) shows clothing and jewellery worn by the youth to highlight the beauty and attract attention at the fairs and festivals.

Adults (Room III) wore more baroque costumes overloaded with ornaments, beads, silks embroideries, etc. Once the best outfits had made for the wedding and post wedding reception, they were also worn at the great festivals.

The jewellery rooms (Rooms IV to VII) represent a journey through the different types of traditional jewellery of Leon and the Silver Way.

Our collection of medallions (‘patenas’ in Spanish) used in clothing is the most complete of existing ones, although we can’t show all of them at the same time. The coral taken from the Mediterranean until the 19th century, Asturian jet and silver are the most valuable materials for our ancestors among all the jewels used with the traditional costume. The best necklaces were integrated in festive clothing.

The ‘collarada’ (a very big necklace) is formed using the boyfriend’s gifts and pieces inherited from the girlfriend’s family, as we can see represented in the last room of jewellery.