Museu Militar do Porto

The Museu Militar do Porto explores Portuguese military history through weapons, uniforms, artillery and documents, from the Napoleonic invasions to the twentieth century. It occupies a building on Rua do Heroísmo that once housed the Porto delegation of the PIDE, the political police of the Estado Novo, and that past is itself part of the visit.

A museum of conflicts

The museum is run by the Portuguese Army and its collections cover the great upheavals of Portuguese history: the Peninsular War, the Liberal Wars of the nineteenth century and the colonial campaigns of the twentieth. Alongside the objects of war, the building preserves the memory of the political police who used it during the dictatorship.

What to see

• Weapons, uniforms and equipment from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries.
• Artillery and vehicles.
• Collections on the Peninsular War and the Liberal Wars.
• The former PIDE cells, preserved as a place of memory.

Visiting the museum

The museum is at Rua do Heroísmo 329, 4300-259 Porto. Opening hours are published by the Army, so check the official website before your visit.

Visitor information: exercito.pt.

Image credit: Museu Militar do Porto, by Joseolgon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.