Maritime museum

The Maritime Museum in Lisbon is one of the largest in Europe and demonstrates the excellence of the Portuguese in everything related to the sea. Here are collected items characterizing the history of navigation, items of the era of great geographical discoveries and models of historical ships.

The Maritime Museum was founded on June 22, 1863 by King Luis of Portugal and is located near the Jerónimos Monastery. For many years now, this museum has been a delight and admiration for the glorious maritime history of Portugal. At the very beginning, the museum collection was located in the premises of the former naval school and the palace of Count Farrobo. Over time, it was decided to move the exhibits to the historical district of Belém. This move became a real act of symbolism, because it was from the harbor of Belém that Vasco da Gama’s caravelles went in search of a sea route to India. The collection has about 17 thousand exhibits. Among them is a wooden figure of the archangel Raphael, who traveled to India with Vasco da Gama on his ship. The exposition exhibits navigation devices, cannons, sea maps of the XVI century, a globe of 1645, reconstructed interiors of the cabins in which the royals - Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany traveled.