Museu de Fosforos

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The Matchstick Museum or Museu de Fosforos in situated in the Convent of S. Francisco, in Tomar houses a collection which took a lifetime to acquire. 

Senor Aquiles de Mota began collecting matchboxes in 1953 during a trip to London to watch the coronation ceremonies for Queen Elizabeth II.

The collection includes examples from over 104 countries and there are more than 43,000 match boxes containing more than 2.000.000 matches.

The collection is divided into three time periods 1827-1895; 1895-1910 and 1910 to the present day.

There are  boxes shaped like light bulbs, hexagonal boxes and another made out of silver. In addition there are commemorative boxes from films, coronations and world events.

The museum opened in it's present location in 1980 when the collection was gifted to the towns people. Since then it has been an educational and popular attraction.

Museu de Fosforos

Boxes on Display

Rooms of Matches

Daily  from 10h00 to 17h00

Entrance is Free