Lisbon Geographical Society Museum

Museum of the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa

On Rua das Portas de Santo Antão, the museum of the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa belongs to the institution founded in 1875 by Luciano Cordeiro and others concerned with overseas affairs, at the time of the European powers' scramble for Africa. The museum first opened to the public in 1884 and, in 1892, took in the collections of the former Colonial Museum of Lisbon, until then under the Secretariat of State for the Navy and Overseas Territories. Since 1897 the society has occupied the large building adapted by José Luís Monteiro, then the city's architect, inaugurated on 8 July that year during the celebrations of the fourth centenary of Vasco da Gama's voyage to India. The entrance hall holds six statues, among them one of Prince Henry the Navigator, and Veloso Salgado's painting 'Vasco da Gama before the Zamorin'. The museum occupies mainly the Sala Portugal, on the principal floor, some 50 metres long and 16 wide, with two tiers of galleries running all the way round. The collections, gathered mostly between 1875 and 1900 from missionaries, merchants, explorers and soldiers or at the international exhibitions, include ethnographic objects from West, Central and East Africa, India, China and Macau, Japan and Timor, as well as padrões (commemorative pillars) and furniture. The museum opens on weekdays only, with guided tours for groups by appointment.

Located at: Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa
Address: Rua das Portas de Santo Antão, 100, 1150-269 Lisboa
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10:00-12:45 and 14:00-16:45 (closed at weekends and on public holidays); guided group tours at 10:00 and 15:00, by appointment
Phone: +351 213 425 401
Coordinates: 38.7166264, -9.1407551
Buses: 732, 736, 746, 783, 709, 711, 722, 744, 759, 19B
Tram: 24E, 12E, 28E
Metro: Restauradores (Blue), Rossio (Green)
Train: Sintra Line, Rossio Station
Opened: 1884 (142 years)