Loreto Gallery

Loreto Gallery – Águas Livres Aqueduct (Water Museum)

Beneath the streets that link Amoreiras to Chiado runs the Loreto Gallery, one of the five galleries that distributed water from the Águas Livres Aqueduct across the city, a system built by royal decree between 1731 and 1799 and classified as a National Monument since 1910. Entirely underground, the gallery measured 2,835 metres including all its branches: it began at the Casa do Registo, next to the Mãe d’Água das Amoreiras Reservoir, descended along the line of Rua das Amoreiras to Largo do Rato, followed Rua da Escola Politécnica, Rua D. Pedro V and Rua da Misericórdia, crossed Largo do Chiado and ended at Largo de São Carlos. It supplied fountains and public establishments such as the Imprensa Nacional, the Passeio Público, the Misericórdia and the São Pedro de Alcântara promenade, and at a stone basin, the Pia do Penalva, the water bound for other aqueducts was divided. Today it forms part of the heritage of EPAL’s Water Museum, which runs guided tours there by prior booking only, along underground stretches of 350, 1,100 or 1,400 metres, starting from the Patriarcal Reservoir, in the Príncipe Real garden, or from the Casa do Registo, on Rua das Amoreiras, and ending at the São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint. The route is not recommended for people with reduced mobility or for those who suffer from claustrophobia.

Located at: EPAL – Museu da Água
Address: Reservatório da Patriarcal, Praça do Príncipe Real, 1250-184 Lisboa (ponto de partida)
Opening hours: Guided tours by prior booking only (groups of 10 to 20 people and occasional dates in the Water Museum’s programme); bookings on 218 100 215 or mda.epal@adp.pt
Phone: +351 218 100 215
Coordinates: 38.716636, -9.148522
Buses: 758, 19B, 773, 22B
Tram: 24E
Metro: Avenida (Blue), Restauradores (Blue)
Train: Sintra Line, Rossio Station
Opened: 1748 (278 years)