A very well kept secret – Casa Museu Medeiros e Almeida

Once you pass the doors of this Lisbon decorative arts museum near Avenida da Liberdade, the first thing that crosses your mind is “How come is this place so hidden away from the spotlight?”.

Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida is its founder, António Medeiros e Almeida, labour of love. This almost doctor that quit medical school to become a business man bought the building in 1943 to live in it and started storing there all the unique pieces of art he passionately collected.

His collection became bigger and bigger and around 1970 Medeiros e Almeida decided to leave his museum to the state and moved next door to make room for his art collection. And we are glad he did!

At this house-museum you can admire an eclectic set of objects such as 17^th century paintings, 16^th century Chinese Ming porcelain, a collection of interesting watches from different eras or a collection of european fans, besides Portuguese and French furniture,19^th century English portraits, French and Flemish tapestries, English silver and jewelry.

If you are part of a group and not an expert at these matters, like we aren’t, we suggest you book one of the guided tours that are available. The staff will walk you through this beautiful house and give you all the details and funny stories behind some of the pieces in such a enthusiastic way that you will be delighted.

They also have something they call “Break of the month”, a sort of quick guided tour, during lunchtime, where they present a featured piece for 30 minutes. Unfortunately these visits are in Portuguese only but get in touch with the museum’s staff for more information.

 

 

Fundação Medeiros e Almeida

> Rua Rosa Araújo, nº. 41, Lisboa

> Metro: Marquês De Pombal, Avenida or Rato

> Opens Monday to Friday 13:00– 17:30 and Saturday 10:00–17:30 (Last admission 17:00)

> Price: 5€. Free for children and teens up to 18. Several discounts. See most up to date and detailed information at Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida’s website

> Insider tip: on the first and third Saturday of each month entrance is free for all from 10:00-13:00. If you understand Portuguese there’s a 1 hour guided tour (no booking required).