Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, is one of the most vibrant cities in Europe to visit, due to its culinary and cultural offer, good weather, beauty of its streets and good plane connections with an airport that is located very near the city centre.
Among its cultural offer, we bring you today a cosy small museum that although might be not in the top 5 of the most visited ones, it is totally worthy to pass by if you spend a few days in the city or you are a newly arrived citizen, as it is my case.
The Lisbon City Museum is very easy to reach from the central areas just by a pleasant walk, or if you take the Metro Yellow Line and stop in Campo Grande, as it is located in a beautiful historic palace (Palacio Pimenta) built in the XVIII Century just around 250 meters away from the metro station.
Its normal ticket fee is quite affordable, 3 euro, and they have discounts for journalists, students, etc. The staff also seemed pretty friendly and they explained you the building tour when you purchase your ticket.
The palace/museum goes through the history of the city along 2 floors, where you can see different artifacts, drawings, pottery and miniatures from prehistoric or Roman period to more modern times, which teaches you a bit more about the history of Lisbon and the history of Portugal.
I found the section with the Roman antiques pretty nice as I love Roman/Greek history, and of course the museum does not lack of a lovely display of Portuguese pottery, as the city has gained historical fame for the production of wonderful ceramics.
But nevertheless, maybe the highlight of the place is not inside its walls, but in the lovely adjacent garden, an oasis of peace in the city where you can enjoy a nice drink or a bit of food, as counts with a lovely kiosk, surrounded by beautiful and colorful peacocks that roam freely all over the grounds and will come peacefully close to you searching for some food.
It is a beautiful place to escape the traffic and stress of some more crowded touristic areas of Lisbon and enjoy a good conversation over a coffee in its garden, apart from learning a bit about the history of Lisbon. As the museum is not very big, you will not feel very tired losing focus visiting it, and the entrance ticket is pretty fair for what is offered. Being so easily connected by transportation, you have no excuse to give it a try!
For more information about the Lisbon City Museums Network:
https://museudelisboa.pt/en/