palace of the same name. Waist-coated waiters whisk trays of tea and homemade pastries to crowds of regular customers. They also serve full meals. Recently opened branches are in Belém and at Lisbon Airport.
Avenida da República 15-A. 21/354-63-40. Daily 7:30am–11:45pm.
Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea MUSEUM Popularly known as the MNAC or Museu do Chiado, the official title of this fine museum is a little misleading because as well as hosting exhibitions of contemporary artists, the permanent collection presents a panorama of Portuguese art from mid-19th-century Romanticism to eclectic 21st-century works.
Among our favorite pieces, look for works by José de Almada Negreiros, Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, José Malhoa, and Paula Rego. Housed in a sprawling building that was formally a Franciscan convent and then a cookie factory before being transformed into a museum during the 1990s. The impressive architecture features a sculpture-filled atrium and garden (although the garden cafe had closed as we went to press).
Despite a recent expansion into a neighboring building (creating a second entrance on Rua Capelo), there’s not enough space to display all 5,000 works, so the collection is regularly rotated.
Rua Serpa Pinto 4. www.museuartecontemporanea.gov.pt. 21/343-21-48. 4.50€, 2.25€ students and over 65s, free for under 12s. Tues–Sun 10am–5:30pm. Metro: Baixa-Chiado. Tram: 28.
Belém, Santos & Alcântara
Among the riverside gardens of Belém, you’ll find Lisbon’s paramount monuments to the Discoveries era, but also exciting modern art and architecture, as well as a range of restaurants and cafes. Portugal’s president has his palace there. Between Belém and downtown, Santos and Alcântara offer a mix of hip shopping and nightlife as well as a couple of top-flight museums.
MAAT MUSEUM The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology is a spectacular new addition to the Lisbon art scene. Opened in 2016, the building, designed by British architect Amanda Levete, rises like a soft white wave over the Tagus, transforming this stretch of Lisbon’s waterfront. It set records for Lisbon museum attendance in its first week, when natives rushed to view its swooping architectural panache.
The new building connects and contrasts with Centro Tejo , a 20th-century power plant next door, which is also open to visitors as a museum of electricity and hosts regular art exhibitions among the furnaces and turbines.
MAAT showcases the collection of the EDP power company based on 21st-century Portuguese artists and hosts regular temporary exhibitions within its curvilinear galleries, with a focus on links between contemporary art, new media, and technology. The choices are not to everybody’s taste, but even those with no stomach for contemporary art will enjoy strolling up to the grass-covered roof and taking in the views.
Avenida de Brasília, Central Tejo. www.maat.pt. 21/002-81-30. 5€, 2.50€ students and over 65s, free for under 18s and unemployed. Free for everyone the first Sunday of the month. Combined ticket with the Central Tejo powerplant 9€. Wed–Mon 11am–7pm. Train: Belém. Tram: 15. Bus: 728, 714, 727, 729, 751.
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos CHURCH If you visit one monument in Lisbon, this should be it. A UNESCO World Heritage site, this 16th-century monastery is the city’s most impressive building. That’s no secret, so go early or late to avoid the longest lines.
Like the nearby Torre de Belém, the monastery was built on the orders of King Manuel I and is the city’s most expressive showcase of the Manueline architectural style named after the monarch (p. 28). It’s a grandiose expression of the newfound wealth and glory that came with Portugal’s maritime expansion. Manuel paid for it with the so-called “pepper tax” on spices shipped from the East.
From outside, the south portal is the visual centerpiece of the limestone facade, an extraordinary shrine-like doorway carved with saintly figures and Portuguese heroes intertwined with the twisted ropes and exotic vegetation that characterizes the Manueline style. Visitors enter through the west portal , built by French sculptor Nicolas Chantereine, a more discreet but equally ornate entrance, featuring figures of Manuel and his queen, Maria of Aragon.
Once you’re in, the three-aisled church is an immediate showstopper. Slender columns like ship’s masts bloom into flower-like supports for the web of tracery on the vaulted ceiling, a masterpiece by Spanish architect Juan de Castillo. Among the tombs of royalty and Portuguese worthies , those of King Manuel (1469–1521), explorer Vasco da Gama (1460–1524), and poet Luis de Camões (1524–80) standout. At the far end is the capela-mor, the main chapel, built in marble under the orders of Queen Catarina of Austria in 1571 with panels of Mannerist paintings.
Other highlights include the cloisters decorated with Manueline carvings and the refectory , whose walls are lined with 17th-century azulejos. The cloisters hold tombs of great writers including poet Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935). In the 19th century, somebody had the bright idea of appending a long two-story annex to the facade of the building in the then-fashionable neo-Manueline style. It now holds the National Archaeology Museum (where you can buy tickets for Jerónimos from automatic vending machines) and the Maritime Museum (p. 117).
Praça do Império. www.mosteirojeronimos.pt. 21/362-00-34. 10€, 5€ over 625s, free for under 12s. Oct–Apr Tues–Sun 10am–5pm; May–Sept Tues–Sun 10am–6pm. Train: Belém. Tram: 15. Bus: 714, 727, 728, 729, 751.
Belém Attractions
Museu Colecção Berardo MUSEUM In the depths of the bunker-like Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) is a world-class collection of modern and contemporary art assembled by Joe Berardo, an emigrant from Madeira who made a fortune in South African gold. In the 1990s, he struck a deal with the Portuguese government to place his treasures on public view in this modern architectural landmark across from Jerónimos Monastery.
palace of the same name. Waist-coated waiters whisk trays of tea and homemade pastries to crowds of regular customers. They also serve full meals. Recently opened branches are in Belém and at Lisbon Airport.
