Academy of Sciences Museum

Maynense Museum of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences – Convent of Nossa Senhora de Jesus

Housed in the former Convent of Nossa Senhora de Jesus, seat of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, the museum was long known as the Maynense Museum, in honour of its founder, Friar José Mayne (1723-1792), Provincial of the Third Order of Saint Francis and a member of the Academy. In the second quarter of the 18th century this friar invested his own assets in the convent library and in a cabinet of curiosities with artefacts, paintings, drawings, medals and a vast natural history collection, which he placed at the service of a public class in “Theological Natural History”. To secure the project's future, he entrusted the Royal Academy of Sciences, founded in 1779, with managing this legacy, which led the institution to move into the convent in 1833. The Academy then created the Maynense Institute, with a Zoology class in 1836, expanded in 1849 into a course in Natural History, Physics, Chemistry, Geography and Geology that was open to the public free of charge until 1919. Enriched over the centuries with convent relics, bequests from the royal family and the Royal Museum of Ajuda, the results of scientific expeditions and archaeological campaigns and legacies from academicians, the collection covers archaeology, ethnography, geology, palaeontology, zoology and scientific instruments, displayed in six themed rooms. The museum is temporarily closed for refurbishment works, with guided tours suspended; in the meantime, the Academy offers a virtual tour.

Located at: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa
Address: Rua da Academia das Ciências, 19, 1249-122 Lisboa
Opening hours: Temporarily closed to the public for refurbishment works (guided tours suspended); no reopening date announced
Phone: +351 213 219 730
Coordinates: 38.7131358, -9.1496964
Buses: 773, 19B, 22B, 706, 727
Tram: 28E, 24E
Metro: Restauradores (Blue), Avenida (Blue)
Train: Sintra Line, Rossio Station, Cascais Line, Cais do Sodré Station