The Madeira Ethnographic Museum is located in the Ribeira Brava Municipality in an old manor from the 17th century. Located on the old Rua da Bagaceira, the manor belonged to the Convent of Santa Clara do Funchal, one of the many properties that the Convent held outside Funchal.
The manor was acquired by Luís Gonçalves da Silva, captain of the Ribeira Brava ordinances. In 1710, the captain decided to expand his house, adding a floor and also building a chapel dedicated to the patriarch São José. Because of this, the manor began to be called Solar de São José.
In 1853, José Maria Barreto, the last administrator of the São José bond, converted the manor into an industrial unit, having formed a partnership with Jorge de Oliveira.
It is at this time that an animal traction sugar cane mill and an alcohol distillery distillery are set up. Later, in 1862, hydraulic energy was also used, installing, in that year, a wooden driving wheel, served by a levada, and a cane mill with three horizontal iron cylinders. In the year 1868, two grain mills also operated in that factory.
In the second half of the 20th century, in 1974 the owners sold the property to the General Board of the Autonomous District of Funchal
Then, over the years, successive transactions of the company's shares took place and, finally, in 1974, the heirs of João Romão Teixeira, owners of the building, sold it to the General Board of the Autonomous District of Funchal.
The Regional Government of Madeira installs the Ethnographic Museum of Madeira in the old brandy mill of Ribeira Brava, designed by the architect João Francisco Caíres. The Museum opened on June 15, 1996.
The Museum focuses mainly on research, documentation, conservation and dissemination of testimonies of traditional Madeiran culture. There is an emphasis on the social, economic and cultural aspects of the Madeira archipelago.
The exhibition is organized by themes: productive activities (fishing, production cycles of wine, cereals and linen), transport, domestic units (kitchen and bedroom) and traditional commerce (grocery store).