National Coaches Museum

National Coach Museum (Museu Nacional dos Coches)

The National Coach Museum is located nearby the Tagus River in the pleasant neighbourhood of Belém, precisely in the Praça Afonso de Albuquerque, in the western part of Lisbon. A former Riding Arena belonging to the Palace of Belém, this building was transformed into a museum in 1904 and enlarged with a new side hall in 1940.

Today, the National Coach Museum exhibits an exceptional collection of ceremonial vehicles used by the European courts, such as coaches, berlins, carriages, chaises, cabriolets, litters, sedan chairs and children’s carts, dating from the 17th to the late 19th century. Considered the most remarkable collection in the world of this kind, this museum allows the visitor to follow both the technical evolution of animal pulled transport and the changes of taste throughout the centuries to be witnessed in the vehicles’ ornaments.

The expositions are completed by a group of cavalry and team harnesses, saddles, dress uniforms, armament and 18th-century processional accessories. Highlights of these collections are some trumpets from the Royal Band, as well as a portrait gallery with oil canvasses of the monarchs of the Bragança dynasty.

The National Coach Museum is one of the most visited museums in Portugal and certainly the most visited one in Lisbon.