National Museum of Natural History and Science

National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC) – University of Lisbon

On Rua da Escola Politécnica, the National Museum of Natural History and Science is the public name of the University of Lisbon Museums unit, created in October 2011 by merging the National Museum of Natural History with the University of Lisbon Science Museum, founded in 1985. The history of the site begins in 1580, with Fernão Telles de Menezes's donation to the Society of Jesus, and continues with the Cotovia Novitiate, the Royal College of Nobles, the Polytechnic School and the Faculty of Sciences. The natural history collections, which originated in the Royal Museum at Ajuda in the second half of the 18th century, reached the Polytechnic in 1858; in March 1978 a fire destroyed much of the main building and the zoology collections. The museum preserves sacred art, the tomb of Fernão Telles de Menezes, the Laboratorio Chimico and the Royal Riding Hall of the College of Nobles, whose wooden ceiling has been listed since 1978, and presents exhibitions such as "Entre Dinossáurios", "Variações Naturais" and "Illustrare", devoted to scientific illustration. It is also responsible for the adjoining Lisbon Botanical Garden, the Tropical Botanical Garden and the Lisbon Astronomical Observatory, and since 2015 has held the heritage of the former Tropical Scientific Research Institute, some 1.5 million objects and specimens.

Located at: Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
Address: Rua da Escola Politécnica, 58-60, 1250-102 Lisboa
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-17:00 (closed on Mondays and public holidays; last admission 30 min before closing; free on Sundays 10:00-13:00)
Phone: +351 213 921 808
Coordinates: 38.7180664, -9.1502265
Buses: 758, 773, 19B, 22B, 706, 709, 774
Tram: 24E
Metro: Avenida (Blue), Rato (Yellow)
Train: Sintra Line, Rossio Station
Opened: 1858 (168 years)