Terra de Montes Ethnographic Centre
The Ethnographic Centre of Terra de Montes (CETMO), located in the Multipurpose Hall of Soutelo de Montes, is a place dedicated to the study, conservation and dissemination of the cultural and material heritage of the region. This museum has a collection of more than 1200 pieces (740 exhibited).
The work of the Centre is to prevent the heritage of our ancestors from being forgotten. Through the objects we try to show what everyday life was like in the area until the sixties of the 20th century, that is, before the disappearance of the pre-industrial culture. The exhibits are therefore not of economic value, they are not beautiful or exotic, they bear witness to a way of life.
The exhibition
The centre has a space dedicated to weaving, clothing and childhood. The complicated world of the loom is very well documented through objects such as “ripos”, “espadeleiros”, “sarillos”, “tear”, etc. You can also find objects related to religious beliefs, such as a confessional, a pocket of the souls. There is also a place dedicated to emigration, due to its importance in the disappearance of the traditional culture, represented by a boot, letters and photos.
The trades also have a place in the ethnographic centre, on the one hand, the trades related to woodworking: sawyers, woodcutters and carpenters, as well as other trades: the equipment of the cereiros and the tools of the stonemasons.
Finally, the representation of the most important work of the farmers: the fields. Ploughs, wagons, sowing, sowing, scythes, etc. allow us to reconstruct the forms of work of the peasants in the Terra de Montes.
