Lisbon has a high-quality museum scene, but less known than Madrid's or Paris's: many visitors discover it with surprise, and museums are rarely crowded. It is part of the Lisbon guide.
The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
Calouste Gulbenkian (1869-1955), an Armenian born in Istanbul, made his fortune in oil and became one of the world's richest men and one of the 20th century's greatest collectors. He spent his last years in Lisbon and left Portugal his collection and a foundation, now one of Europe's leading cultural institutions. The museum, in a 1960s modernist building set in a lovely garden, shows about a thousand selected works: Egyptian, Greek, Mesopotamian and Islamic art, Persian ceramics and carpets, Chinese porcelain, paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Guardi, Turner, Manet, Renoir and Degas, 18th-century French furniture and the extraordinary collection of jewellery and glass by René Lalique. Next door, the CAM, the Modern Art Centre, renewed with a design by Kengo Kuma, shows Portuguese and international 20th-century and contemporary art. Entry is free on Sunday afternoons.
The National Museum of Ancient Art
In the Janelas Verdes palace above the port, the MNAA is Portugal's most important art museum. Its treasures are the São Vicente Panels by Nuno Gonçalves, a group portrait of 15th-century Portuguese society, Hieronymus Bosch's Temptations of St Anthony, works by Dürer, Holbein, Piero della Francesca, Raphael and Zurbarán, and an extraordinary section of Discoveries art: Japanese namban screens depicting the Portuguese arriving in Japan, African ivories, Indian goldwork and Chinese porcelain. The garden café has a fine view of the river.
The National Azulejo Museum
In the Madre de Deus convent, founded in 1509, the museum tells five centuries of azulejos, from Moorish tiles to baroque designs and contemporary works. Don't miss the great panorama of Lisbon, a panel over twenty metres long showing the city before the 1755 earthquake, and the Madre de Deus church, a baroque triumph of gold, paintings and tiles. The museum is a little out of the way, east of the centre: reach it by bus.
Belém
In Belém are the National Coach Museum, the world's finest collection of royal carriages, the riverside MAAT museum of art, architecture and technology, the MAC/CCB contemporary art museum at the Belém Cultural Centre, the Navy Museum and the National Archaeology Museum in the Jerónimos Monastery. See Belém.
Other museums to discover
| Museum | Why go |
|---|---|
| Museu do Fado | The history of fado, from Maria Severa to Amália, in Alfama |
| Museu do Oriente | Asian collections and the Portuguese presence in Asia, in Alcântara |
| Casa Fernando Pessoa | The great poet's home, in Campo de Ourique |
| Museu de Lisboa | The city's history in the Palácio Pimenta and other venues |
| National Theatre and Dance Museum | Costumes, sets and memorabilia, in Lumiar park |
| Arpad Szenes-Vieira da Silva Foundation | The great Portuguese abstract painter |
| Museum of Decorative Arts | Furniture and decorative arts in an Alfama palace |
| Bordalo Pinheiro Museum | The great artist's fanciful ceramics |
| Museu do Aljube | The memory of the dictatorship, in a former political prison |
| Oceanário | One of Europe's largest aquariums, at Parque das Nações |
Entry and savings
- Many national museums, such as the Azulejo, Ancient Art and Coaches, close on Mondays.
- On Sundays and holidays national museums are free for residents of Portugal; tourists pay the standard ticket.
- The Lisboa Card includes free or discounted entry to dozens of museums and monuments, plus transport.
- Book temporary exhibitions at the Gulbenkian and MAAT online.
See also what to see in Lisbon.