Carmo Archaeological Museum

This is a visit to Carmo Archaeological Museum located in the center of Lisbon presenting a thematic variety of history, culture, archaeology from the prehistory to contemporary times.

Location map of Carmo Archaeological Museum

Located in the old Carmo Church, in the addition to the museum’s collection it shows also in open sky, its magnificent pillars and arches in romantic-neogotic style.

Going back in time, it was in the year of 1389 that D. Nuno Álvares Pereira, the great militar stratega of the middle ages ordered the construction of Carmo Church.

In 1756 the reconstruction began after significant damage due the 1755 earthquake. Later, in 1834 it was interrupted due to the abolition of the religious orders in Portugal leaving the Carmo Church nave untouchable. They are now, part of the ruins of Carmo which it offers the museum its own scenic character of an environment of memories.

The Carmo Archaeological Museum was founded in 1864 by Joaquim Possidónio da Silva. It thus, constitutes the first museum of art and archeology in the country. It arose to safeguard the National Heritage due to its deterioration.

Along the outer space (body of the nave) and inside the old chapels stand out the important funerary monuments, sculptures, tile panels and stone arms.

The exhibition at Carmo Archaeological Museum continues inside through a set of rooms of the old chapel.

We then started in one of the rooms where artefacts are exhibited from the Stone Age (Paleolithic) to the Iron Age of the inhabitants of the current Portuguese territory.

In the Center the model of the fortification of Castro de Vila Nova de São Pedro inhabited between 3500 BC to 1500 BC

Further ahead there is an exhibition of the period of the Roman, Visigothic and Islamic rule in Portuguese territory.

Fragments and pieces from the Roman, Visigothic and Islamic period

In the central part of the rooms, the museum presents important pieces of medieval and modern sculptures (13th-18th centuries).

The Museum’s collection also extends to collections from Egypt, South and Central America.

Tomb of Egypt (5th-4th century BC)

Also highlighted in the next room, it is a tile panel with Islamic influences and the Stone of Arms by Queen D. Maria Francisca da Saboia.

Stone Arms by Queen D. Maria Francisca da Saboia (17th-18th centuries)

The Auditorium is the last part of visit, which presents a movie about the history of the museum from the founders of its construction, the damage suffered from the earthquake and its reconstruction to the current archaeological exhibition.

Our selfie from the Carmo Archaeological Museum

To complete our tour we went to lunch at the Cabaças restaurant. The food was extremely delicious!

Grilled Perch

Streaky

After lunch, we walked through the beautiful streets of Lisbon saying god bye with great satisfaction.

With the teddy bear in Armazens do Chiado

This visit was an enriching tour for us, as we learned more about the ruins of Carmo which presents in its Archaeological Museum a huge set of pieces of historical, archaeological and artistic value as well as the pillars and arcs in the open sky in a magic scenery.

We hope that our readers and travel lovers will also one day be able to visit this magnificent monument in the center of Lisbon.

References Carmo Archaeological Museum

Thanks to Manuel Manero for blogging recommendations

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