Royal Riding School
In Belém, the 1787 riding hall where Queen Amélia opened the Coach Museum in 1905; closed for works since 2025.
Royal Riding School – National Coach Museum
On Praça Afonso de Albuquerque, in Belém, the former Royal Riding School was built in 1787 by the Italian architect Giacomo Azzolini. It was in this hall that, on 23 May 1905, Queen Amélia of Orléans and Braganza opened the Royal Coach Museum, the world's first coach museum, in a conversion by the court architect Rosendo Carvalheira with the collaboration of the painters José Malhoa and Conceição e Silva. Space was short from the outset, and in 1906 the queen herself commissioned a project to enlarge it. After the proclamation of the Republic, the collection grew with coaches and berlins from the abolished Royal House and with vehicles taken from Church property, and in 1911 the museum was renamed the National Coach Museum. In 1944 a new hall designed by Raul Lino was opened. Since 2015 most of the collection has been in the building designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, but the Riding School still holds a display of coaches and berlins, the royal family's picture gallery and a set of riding accessories. It has been closed for refurbishment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan since 29 September 2025.
Located at: Museus e Monumentos de Portugal
Address: Praça Afonso de Albuquerque, 1300-004 Lisboa
Opening hours: Closed for refurbishment (Recovery and Resilience Plan) since 29 September 2025
Phone: +351 213 610 850
Coordinates: 38.6978107, -9.1997128
Buses: 729, 714, 727, 751, 728
Tram: 15E
Train: Cascais Line, Belém Station
Boat: Belém River Station
Opened: 1905 (121 years)
