🏯 Alcântara · West Lisbon
Museu do Oriente
Portugal's fascinating relationship with Asia — from Goa to Macau.
About
Housed in a dramatic 1940s riverside codfish warehouse, the Museum of the Orient explores five centuries of Portuguese presence in Asia. It is one of the most distinctive and undervisited museums in Lisbon — well worth the short trip to Alcântara.
The collection is split into two major sections: the Vasco da Gama Collection, which documents the cultural exchange between Portugal and Asian civilisations from India to Japan; and the Kwok On Collection, a unique archive of 20,000 Asian performing arts artefacts — costumes, masks, puppets, and musical instruments — donated by a Hong Kong collector.
Friday evenings are especially atmospheric: the museum stays open until 10pm and admission is free, often with live music or cultural programming.
Highlights
- ✓Kwok On Collection — 20,000 Asian performing arts objects
- ✓Vasco da Gama Collection of Asian trade artefacts
- ✓Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Timorese galleries
- ✓Free Friday evenings with cultural programming
- ✓Spectacular riverside warehouse architecture
- ✓Goa and Macau Portuguese colonial history
Gallery
