Geological Museum
A 19th-century museum of fossils, minerals and rocks, with the most complete stegosaur skeleton ever found in Europe.
Geological Museum – LNEG
On Rua da Academia das Ciências, in the former Convent of Nossa Senhora de Jesus of the Third Order of St Francis, the Geological Museum dates from 1859, when the Kingdom's Geological Commission moved in. The museum grew from specimens gathered by the Geological Commissions and later by the Geological Services of Portugal and the Geological and Mining Institute, forerunners of today's National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (LNEG), which runs it. The work of pioneers of Portuguese geology such as Carlos Ribeiro, Nery Delgado and Paul Choffat gave rise to the reference collections that now serve the scientific community. The arrangement of the collections, the display furniture and the interior architecture reflect 19th-century museology, of which few examples remain in Europe, leading specialists to call it a 'museum of museums'; it belongs to the Portuguese Museum Network and was classified as a Property of Public Interest in 2010. The collections span palaeontology, mineralogy, lithology, Portuguese stratigraphy, prehistoric archaeology and scientific instruments. Exhibitions include 'Portugal antes do Homem', with Portuguese fossils, and '100 Milhões de Anos da História de Lisboa', on the city's geology since the Upper Cretaceous. A highlight is the Atouguia da Baleia stegosaur, of the species Miragaia longicollum, the most complete stegosaur skeleton ever found on the European continent.
Located at: LNEG – Museu Geológico
Address: Rua da Academia das Ciências, 19, 2.º, 1249-280 Lisboa
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10:00-18:00 (closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays)
Phone: +351 213 463 915
Coordinates: 38.7131073, -9.1497546
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
Opened: 1859 (167 years)
