Museu Nacional de Arqueologia

Portugal’s national museum of archaeology occupies part of the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, a setting as impressive as the collections it holds. Its rooms gather objects from across the country and beyond, tracing human presence in Portugal from prehistory to the Middle Ages.

A national collection

The museum was founded in 1893 by the scholar José Leite de Vasconcelos and installed in the former monastic buildings of the Jerónimos. Over more than a century it has assembled one of the most important archaeological collections in the country, from prehistoric tools to Roman mosaics and Islamic objects.

What to see

• Prehistoric and protohistoric collections from across Portugal.
• Roman archaeology, including mosaics, sculpture and everyday objects.
• Egyptian antiquities and other collections from the Mediterranean world.
• Gold and jewellery, and the museum’s important collection of epigraphy.

Visiting the museum

The museum is at Praça do Império, Belém, Lisbon, in the Jerónimos Monastery. Opening hours and tickets are published on the official website, so check before your visit.

Visitor information: museunacionalarqueologia.gov.pt.

Image credit: Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, Lisbon, by Jose Luis Filpo Cabana, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.