The National Coach Museum is one of the most visited museums in Lisbon. It shelters a unique collection of royal coaches (and adjoining accessories: uniforms, cloths, harnesses) dating back to the modern era (the 17th to the 19th century). The collection comprises horse-drawn carriages which used to belong to the Portuguese royal families, as well as to the European ones, English and Spanish alike.

The decorative lushness of every exhibit, as well as the precious materials they are made of (or plated with), substantiates both the wealth and the aesthetic inclinations and tastes cultivated by the royal bigwigs of Europe. Some of the highlights refer to the coach used by the Portuguese ambassador to the court of Louis XIV (decorated with cherubs), to the splendid carriage of the Portuguese ambassador to Pope Clement XI (depicting scenes which praise the achievements of the Portuguese army) and to a coach which renders the allegorical crowning of Lisbon by Abundance and Fame and the just as allegorical defeat of the Muslim world by a dragon. These gilded scenes turn the latter coach into one of the major attractions of the museum.

Lisbon Card holders have free admission to the National Coach Museum.

Name:
National Coach Museum (Museu Nacional dos Coches)
Address:
Praca Afonso de Albuquerque, Lisbon, Portugal
Telephone:
00351 213 610859
Fax:
00351 213 632503
Email:
mncoches@imc-ip.pt
Website:
www.museudoscoches.pt
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday: 10am to 6pm
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