-
Casa do Fado e da Guitarra Portuguesa
Fado was born in Alfama. To learn more, visit the Casa do Fado e da Guitarra Portuguesa, a vibrant museum tracing fado 's history from its working-class roots to international fame and finishing at a recreated fado house.
-
Casa Museu de Amália Rodrigues
More of a pilgrimage site than a museum, this ochre house is where fado diva Amália lived - along the street you'll notice graffiti announcing it Rua Amália. The short tours include recordings of performances.
-
Castelo de São Jorge
The Castelo de São Jorge has stupendous views across the city. From its Visigothic beginnings in the 5th century, it was later fortified by the Moors in the 9th century, sacked by Christians in the 12th century and used as a royal residence from the 14th to 16th centuries - and as a prison in every century.
-
Centro de Arte Moderna
The Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian's other major museum, the Centro de Arte Moderna is a white, warehouselike space showing an unparalleled collection of modern Portuguese art, including influential Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, who caused a scandal with his experiments in cubism, expressionism and futurism; abstract works by iconic modernist José de Almada Negreiros; the haunting grotesque fairy tales of Paula Rego, Portugal's best-known contemporary artist; and the geometric brilliance of Angelo de Souza. Works by modern British artists such as David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Anthony Gormley and Julien Opie serve as points of reference. The café is a Lisbon institution, and good for vegetarians.
-
Igreja de São Roque
The 16th-century Jesuit Igreja de São Roque has a plain façade, designed by the architect of São Vicente, hiding a dazzling interior of gold, marble and Florentine azulejos - an elaborate canvas bankrolled by Brazilian riches.
-
Mãe d'Água
The king laid the aqueduct's final stone at Mãe d'Água, the city's massive, 5500-cu-metre main reservoir. The reservoir's cool, echoing chamber (check out the start of the narrow aqueduct passage), completed in 1834, now hosts art exhibitions.
-
Museu Arqueológico do Carmo
The Museu Arqueológico do Carmo was set up to safeguard religious treasures after the abolition of religious orders in 1834. It has an outstanding collection of 14th-century carved tombs, some prehistoric implements and a dishevelled trio of mummies - one battered Egyptian and two gruesome 16th-century Peruvians.
-
Museu Calouste Gulbenkian
Chief must-see is the eclectic, brilliant collection of the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian. One of Europe's unsung treasures, this museum, set in a sleek 1960s building, houses more than 6000 pieces (with 1500 on permanent display) spanning major epochs of Western and Eastern art. Idyllic gardens surround the space, and there are bilingual touch-screens with information on some of the museum's most exceptional works.
-
Museu da Água
The Aqueduto das Águas Livres and Mãe d'Água reservoir are part of the Museu da Água, in a restored 19th-century pump station. The museum explains the complex watering system and is run by Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres (EPAL), the municipal water company.
-
Advertisement
-
Museu da Carris
For something entirely different, head to charming Museu da Carris, housed in the Carris headquarters, which tells the history of Lisbon's most endearing means of transport using the models-in-glass-cases method. Tram 15 passes right by so you can have a holistic experience.
-
Museu da Cidade
The Museu da Cidade, careers through Lisbon's amazing roller-coaster history with an enormous model of the pre-earthquake city and an excellent collection of tiles. The nearest metro station is Campo Grande.
-
Museu da Marioneta
Museu da Marioneta houses a bewitching collection of puppets in the splendid Convento das Bernardas. A surprisingly grand restaurant adjoins the space.
-
Museu de Arte Popular
The Museu de Arte Popular should house a regional folk art collection. As of 2006, the main museum was still closed for long-term renovations.
-
Museu de Artes Decorativas Portuguesas
This brilliant museum and school of decorative arts, operated by the Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, displays 15th- to 19th-century furniture, textiles, jewellery, silverware and porcelain in an aristocratic 18th-century palace. Call ahead about the workshops where artisans practise traditional wood carving, metalwork, decorative painting and more.
-
Museu de Marinha
The Among the armadas of model boats, this museum has gems such as Vasco da Gama's portable wooden altar and the rich, polished private quarters of the 1900 UK-built royal yacht Amélia . There are also ornate royal barges, the biggest a 1780 neo-Viking number. On weekends a children's museum offers brightly coloured creative activities.
-
Museu do Chiado
In the strikingly converted Convento de São Francisco, is the Museu do Chiado, beautifully lit and laid out with contemporary art exhibitions plus a permanent display of 19th- and 20th-century Portuguese and foreign art, including works by Rodin and Maillol. Highlights are the marvellous panels (1927-32) by José de Almada Negreiros from San Carlos Cinema.
-
Museu do Design
This superlative design museum, in the Centro Cultural de Bel�m, displays furniture and product design from the 1930s to the present. This very cool collection features the masters - Capelo, Panton, Gehry, Starck, Newson and the Eames - and there are frequent temporary shows, as well as a decent bookshop.
-
Museu do Teatro Romano
The Museu do Teatro Romano, displaying the city's ruined Roman theatre. Built during Emperor Augustus' time, it was extended in AD 57 to seat up to 5000. The theatre was abandoned in the 4th century, and its stones were appropriated to build the city. Not much is left but the museum cleverly recreates the scene.
-
Museu Militar
West of Santa Apolónia train station, in a suitably florid building, is the Museu Militar, with the biggest collection of artillery in the world. It's a mind-blowing, if fusty, display of ways to do damage. One for Charlton Heston types.
-
Advertisement
-
Museu Nacional de Arqueologia
Opened in 1893, the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, in the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos' western wing, has exhibits from prehistory to Moorish times, including reverentially lit Graeco-Roman antiquities, such as funerary masks, mummies, tiny mummified crocodiles, sandals and combs. The other highlight is the Treasures Room, with a great haul of gleaming, burnished antique gold jewellery, from massive Bronze Age torques to a delicate Roman snake bracelet.
-
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga
Housed in a grand 17th-century palace, the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga has an amazing European art collection, bursting with Portuguese works, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles and furniture. There is also a superb collection of decorative art from Africa, India, China and Japan. You can buy a guide in Portuguese or English.
-
Museu Nacional do Azulejo
About 1km northeast of Santa Apolónia train station is Lisbon's most beautiful museum, the Museu Nacional do Azulejo. It's housed in the 16th-century convent of Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Madre de Deus, with lovely small tiled courtyards, Manueline cloister and gold-smothered baroque chapel, set off with more blue-and-white tiles.
-
Museu Nacional do Teatro
You won't need to know anything about Portuguese drama to find the National Theatre Museum fascinating. It houses a beguiling collection of 300,000 pieces - wonderful theatrical costumes, props, models of sets, drawings, posters, programmes, postcards, scripts, scores and photos. It's located in the lush Parque de Monteiro Mór.
-
Museu Nacional dos Coches
This amazing museum, housed in the Royal Riding Arena of Belem Palace, has one of the world's best collections of royal, aristocratic and ecclesiastical coaches from the 17th to 19th centuries. Apart from anything else the exhibits clearly illustrate the ostentation and staggering wealth of the old Portuguese elite.
