maritime museum

MARITIME MUSEUM
A World of Discoveries








GENERAL INFORMATION-


The Maritime Museum is located on the western wing of the Jeronimos Monastery, very close o the Tagus river and to the place from where the Discovereis ships departed.

The Maritime Museum was founded by King Luis on the 22nd July 1863, in order to promote the Portuguese maritime history. Today, the museum owns over 17.000 items, 2500 of which have been selected to be a part of museum’s permanent exhibition as well as photographic archives, drawings and ships plans.





The museum is divided in many halls according to their exhibits. One of them is the Entrance Hall in wich a statue of Prince henry the Navigator flanked by the portuguese navigators began the Atlantic Adventure.



Another is Barge Pavillion which displays several originals Portuguese fishing crafts, as well as three seaplanes, including the santa cruz in which Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral completed the first crossing of the South atlantic by air.
















Then it is the Discoveries Hall the area of the permanent exhbition, bringing together the most important ítems that gave Portugal the primacy in Atlantic voyages and the Discovery of new lands and people.








During your visit you shall see objects of many different kinds produced by people of many cultures. A careful observation provides a glimpse, not only of the environment that gave rise them, but also the influences that marked them, and that through all these ítems on display we may contribute to the formation of a most ample perspective of one of the most fascinating aspects of the history of mankind.

A visit in the maritime museum offers the opportunity especially to the younger people to learn about the history of maritime life in Portugal. That´s a way to expand their knowledge in how portuguese people managed with the means of that time to discover a whole new World. Also they can collect information about ship structure and how their construction characteristics evolved throughout time. All these serve the educational purpose of the existence of the museum. Its impressive exterior is also another appealing reason why someone would be urged to visit it.
Among its many advantages a reason why a young person would lose its interest during the visit could be the enormous size of the building and the constant repeat of its exhibits. But this counts nothing to what you gain after a visit in this thesaurus of maritime life.
The Maritime Museum, one of the best in Europe, evokes the glory that characterized Portugal's domination of the high seas.
It is dedicated to all aspects of the History of navigation in Portugal.