Every historic house keeps its treasures somewhere. Ours keeps them in plain sight.
The Heart of the House
The house museum is the soul of Casa Mayolica: a private museum of Manises ceramics, gathered across generations of a family that lived from the craft — and for it. Not a museum with a house attached, but a house that never stopped being a museum of its own trade.
Manises has been making ceramics for more than seven centuries. Our collection holds pieces from that long story: plates and tiles, workshop pieces and household objects, the everyday and the exceptional, side by side on shelves and walls — much of it still in the rooms where it was meant to live.
Reflejo Metálico and Other Manises Treasures
The stars of the collection are the reflejo metálico pieces — the metallic-lustre ware that made Manises famous from the fourteenth century onward. Fired with metallic oxides until the surface catches the light in bronze and gold, these pieces travelled across Europe and the Mediterranean back when Manises was one of the great ceramic cities of the world. See one under the patio light and you understand why.
Around them, the collection traces the rest of the Manises story: mayólica — the tin-glazed blue-and-white ware that gave our house its name — alongside signed pieces from local masters, moulds and tools from the workshop years, and the humble everyday plates that fed real families. Some pieces are centuries old; others come from the house’s own early years, when this was a working alfarería.
When You Can Visit
The house museum is a private collection in a private house, so it is not usually open to the public. But there are moments when the doors open:
- Public events — on open-doors days like Open House Valencia and Ceràmica Oberta, the whole house — collection included — welcomes visitors
- Private events — weddings and celebrations here can sometimes include time in the house museum; ask us when planning yours
On those public-event days, the little ceramic market opens alongside the collection. You can also expect it around Christmas and Los Reyes — or, outside those dates, visit it on request: just ask.
A Private Visit, on Request
If you stay with us, there is a third way in. The Experience — our apartment in the historic house — includes the option of a private guided visit to the collection, just for your party, at the time that suits you. Ask when you book, or any morning over coffee in the patio.
Planning a stay, an event or a trip to Manises? Check when the house opens for public events, or ask about a private visit with The Experience. For private events that include the collection, write to us.