National Coach Museum
National Coach Museum
Visited by more tourists than any other attraction in Lisbon, the National Coach Museum is the finest of its type in the world. Founded by Amélia, wife of Carlos I, it's housed in a former 18th-century riding academy connected to the Belém Royal Palace. The coaches stand in a former horse ring; most date from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Drawing the most interest is a trio of opulently gilded baroque carriages used by the Portuguese ambassador to the Vatican at the time of Pope Clement XI (1716). Also on display is a 17th-century coach in which the Spanish Hapsburg king, Phillip II, journeyed from Madrid to Lisbon to see his new possession.
The series of coaches on display is singular in every sense, be it as unparalleled witness of the history of the techniques and elegance of expression in the decorative arts, or as point of convergence of the wide-ranging aesthetic potential of baroque sculpture and painting. The former Riding School is the ideal setting, with its profusion of fresco decoration evoking the Portuguese world of horsemanship.
