NAVY MUSEUM

Description

Essentials about the Navy Museum in brief

If you want to follow in the footsteps of the great seafaring nation of Portugal, you should definitely visit the Museu de Marinha (Navy Museum). It is housed in the west wing of the beautiful Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos Monastery) in Belém and offers a very interesting overview of the centuries-old history of Portuguese seafaring.

The history of the Navy Museum

Historically, the Navy Museum dates back to King Luís I, a lover of oceanographic studies who was himself a navigator and the only king of Portugal ever to have commanded a ship himself. Luís I founded a collection of objects related to Portugal’s maritime history in 1863. 100 years later, the Navy Museum was housed in the side wing of the Jerónimos Monastery, symbolically returning to the place from which Portuguese caravels once set out to discover the world.

The exhibition of the Navy Museum

The Navy Museum now houses more than 17,000 exhibits, including beautiful ship models ranging from historic naus and caravels to state-of-the-art warships. In the entrance hall, a huge map illustrates the routes of Portuguese voyages of discovery between the 11th and 16th centuries and the former division of the world between the Portuguese and Spanish crowns.

Also worth seeing are the cabins of the royal yacht Amélia, acquired by King Dom Carlos at the beginning of the 20th century for his oceanographic explorations. Furniture, porcelain and crystal bring to life the ambience of the Portuguese royal family. Furthermore, several other impressive royal ships as well as many historic Portuguese boats are on display in the museum, showing a broad cross-section of Portuguese shipping through the centuries. The view from above of the exhibits worth seeing is also great. Visitors get a new perspective on the ships from special grandstands.