Lisbon is one of the oldest capitals in Europe. It was also once a prominent port city where merchants worldwide would meet and trade in the Middle Ages. It was the center of globalization’s earliest days.
Although the infamous 1755 earthquake left Lisbon in shambles, killing hundreds of people, the city bounced back. Over time, historical landmarks were rebuilt and works of art were restored. Today, Lisbon is a vibrant city where old Portuguese traditions inspire the most famous contemporary artists.
Lisbon’s Iconic Landmarks
1. Lisbon Cathedral
Built in 1147, Sé Catedral de Lisboa is the oldest church in the city. After conquering the city, Portugal’s first king, D. Afonso Henriques, ordered the construction of a church over an old mosque. Although the façade presents a Romanesque architectural style, you can admire a 14th-century Gothic cloister and a 17th-century Mannerist sacristy.
Archaeological excavations here have revealed an intriguing past. You can admire some of the artifacts found here at the Museum of Ancient Art.
If you’re interested in religious art, you will be happy to know that Sé de Lisboa holds an impressive collection. From painting to sculpture and goldsmithing, you can admire pieces dated between the 16th and the 19th centuries.
2. Jerónimos Monastery
Jerónimos Monastery is the finest example of the unique Manueline architecture style in Lisbon.
Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos is deeply connected to the Portuguese maritime expansion of the 16th century. It was the overseas trade with Africa, Asia, Brazil, and India that supported the costs during a construction period that lasted 100 years.
One of the building’s most fascinating features is the south façade. The intricate details—which show Infante D. Henrique guarding the entrance while the Virgin of Belém blesses the building—are definitely worth admiring.
Inside, you will find a Manueline masterpiece by João de Castilho, the master architect who joined the project 16 years after construction began. Although he kept much of the original design, he added several changes and designed new sections from scratch. One of them was the transept vaulting not supported by any columns.
3. Belém Tower
Torre de Belém is a stunning 16th-century defensive tower, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
Originally designed to defend the river entrance, over the centuries, the tower gradually lost its defensive purposes. You might find it odd that a tower sitting on dry land would ever defend a river. The truth is Torre de Belém was built on water. However, over the years, the river shifted its course, and the tower is now on solid ground.
What can you expect as an art lover and traveler?
Admire the sculptures on the watchtowers. Here, you can see the influence of Moroccan fortifications. However, it is the Manueline architecture style that defines Torre de Belém. Among the most iconic details are the stone rigging in the heraldry and the sculpture of a rhinoceros, the first of its kind in Europe.
Art in Unexpected Places
4. Portuguese Cobblestones
No one really knows the origins of the Portuguese Cobblestone or Calçada Portuguesa. Yet one thing is certain: it is one of the most traditional and defining elements of Portuguese Culture.
Out of several theories surrounding the early days of this incredible art, the most acknowledged dates back to the 16th century. At that time, Portugal had built a vast overseas empire extending to Brazil, Africa, and Asia. Boats leaving Lisbon departed empty so they could return filled with merchandise. However, empty ships would be too treacherous to navigate. So, sailors used limestone and basalt stones to make the boats heavier.
Yet, when the boats reached their destination, sailors did not know what to do with all that stone. So, the Jesuit missionaries used the stones to pave the roads.
As a result, you can admire Portuguese Cobblestone worldwide, from Brazil to Angola and Cape Verde, to Timor and Macao.
In Lisbon, you can admire the incredible artwork of the “calceteiros,” the men who lay the Portuguese Cobblestone throughout the city.
At Rossio, you can admire the “Mar Largo” pattern. This wavy design tries to recreate the ocean waves as an homage to the Portuguese Age of Discovery. It became so popular that Brazilians used it as an inspiration to design the famous Copacabana sidewalk in Rio de Janeiro.
The intricate cobblestone design at Restauradores Square will also astonish you. It was built in the 1970s to replace the original Portuguese Cobblestone from 1905.
In Avenida da Liberdade, one of the most popular avenues in downtown Lisbon, you will find floral and abstract designs. Walking towards Marquês de Pombal Square, you will find the image of a Portuguese caravel and two crows. These are a tribute to Saint Vincent Legend, which became a symbol of the capital city.
Yet, the most striking Portuguese Cobblestone piece in Lisbon must be the Padrão dos Descobrimentos. This fascinating work represents the world map inside a compass rose, surrounded by the “Mar Largo” pattern. Its purpose was to illustrate the Portuguese maritime routes during the overseas expansion in the 15th and 16th centuries.
5. São Vicente de Fora Mural by André de Saraiva
Lisbon is filled with fascinating urban art from reputable artists such as Vhils and Bordallo II, among many others. However, this mural by André de Saraiva stands out for its grandiosity.
The São Vicente de Fora mural was finished in 2016 after two years of being assembled. It contains more than 50,000 hand-painted tiles, meticulously placed along 180 meters (590 feet) in length and 1,011 square meters (11,840 sq feet). The tiles were produced by the renowned Viúva de Lamego factory under the careful supervision of André de Saraiva.
Lisbon City Council and MuDe Design and Fashion Museum commissioned this impressive mural to represent the city’s most iconic landmarks. The result combines the artist’s past in New York and Paris with the history of Lisbon and Portugal.
6. Lisbon Metro
The subway, regardless of the country where you use it, is often associated with dark tunnels and blank walls with the occasional advertisement poster. Metro de Lisboa, the company managing the subway system in the capital, decided to do something different. They invited famous artists to decorate the subway stations.
Each subway station is unique and showcases the designs and artwork of famous architects and artists, such as Tomás Taveira, Paulo Brito da Silva, Leopoldo Rosa, António Antunes, Artur Boyd, and Querubim Lapa, among many others.
The Green Line, the oldest line in Lisbon’s subway system, takes a more traditional approach. Here, you can admire subtle patterns on the tiles, where traditional Portuguese blue and white tiles served as inspiration, especially in Cais do Sodré and Campo Grande.
On the Yellow Line, you will find a variety of individual artworks that really stand out. Check Saldanha, Entre Campos, or Cidade Universitária to enjoy this underground art gallery.
Each station along the Blue Line holds a specific theme. As a result, the artwork tells commuters about the history of the area where the station is located. Have a look at Avenida, Parque or Jardim Zoológico.
Finally, there’s the Red Line, the most recent in the subway system. Here, the artwork was carefully embedded into the architecture and engineering, and you will be challenged to determine where one begins and the other ends. Visit Olaias, Bela Vista, Chelas, or Oriente to contemplate these stunning artworks.
7. Bordallo Pinheiro Garden
Bordallo Pinheiro was a Portuguese artist, ceramist, and writer born in 1846 who became famous for his satirical poster art and Portuguese caricatures. As a ceramist, he founded Fábrica de Faianças das Caldas da Rainha, where he developed a unique legacy. Today, the company operates worldwide under the name Bordallo Pinheiro.
One of his most famous ceramics is the cabbage soup tureen. Bordallo Pinheiro ironically designed it to make cabbage, the most common vegetable in the peasant diet, the main centerpiece at the wealthiest tables. Over the years, it became a symbol of Portuguese culture. In fact, almost every Portuguese household has one of these.
Yet, over the years, the Portuguese stopped using these ceramics. That is why Catarina Portas, a journalist and founder of Jardim Bordallo Pinheiro, decided to create a dedicated space for these pieces.
Along with Lisbon City Council, Joana Vasconcelos, the renowned Portuguese artist, granted over 1,200 Bordallo Pinheiro pieces to fill a garden. Here, you will find ceramic monkeys, snakes, sparrows, cats, lobsters, frogs, giant snails, and bees.
8. LX Factory
LX Factory is the newest creative neighborhood, born from a mid-19th-century textile factory. In 2008, the area was refurbished to house restaurants, cafés, terraces, vintage stores, and coworking spaces. Since then, the LX Factory has become one of Lisbon’s hotspots.
Throughout the neighborhood, you can admire pieces of street art by Bordalo II, Vhils, Banksy, André Saraiva, Felipe Pantone, and Jason Revok, among others.
“Ler Devagar” is a unique bookstore the Financial Times and National Geographic called one of the most beautiful in the world. Located at an old printing shop, it still displays a massive printing press. Inside, you will also find bookshelves covering the walls from top to bottom. The best thing is that you can browse from a collection of hundreds of books in several languages. Yet, this is more than a simple bookstore. Here, you can attend temporary and permanent exhibitions and other cultural events open to the public.
On Sundays, you can enjoy the flea market with temporary booths and stalls open to showcase the works of local artisans and designers. Here, you can buy almost anything from vintage clothing to locally-made jewelry or cork-crafted bags.
Just five minutes walking distance from LX Factory is the Village Underground, a complex of old ship containers and buses converted into coworking spaces and a restaurant where you can admire the street art.
Lisbon Museums You Must Visit
9. The Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology
The Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology, also known as MAAT, is a unique museum that combines space for debate, discovery, critical thinking, and international dialogue. The building, designed by Amanda Levete Architects, is located next to Central Tejo, one of the best examples of industrial architecture from the first half of the 20th century in Portugal.
MAAT’s purpose is to present national and international contemporary artists and architects. As a result, the museum’s program presents several curatorial perspectives from the EDP Foundation Art Collection.
In June 2016, MAAT presented four new exhibitions, the first in the museum’s history, at the Central Tejo building. Later that year, the inauguration of the new building included a unique large-scale work by French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster.
Since then, temporary exhibitions and events have filled the museum agenda and welcomed visitors to explore new perspectives and ways of thinking.
10. Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
This museum emerged from the desire of Calouste Gulbenkian, a wealthy businessman and art collector born in the Ottoman Empire. Although he was born in Armenia, his path led him to Portugal, where he established the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and lived out the rest of his days.
Throughout his travels, Gulbenkian amassed one of the largest private art collections worldwide. One of his final wishes was to show the public the impressive artworks in his collection. After years of having his private collection divided between Paris, London, and Washington, after his death, the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian finally reunited the whole collection.
The museum holds over 6,000 pieces of ancient and modern art, of which only 1,030 are on display. Nevertheless, you can admire artworks from Ancient Egypt, Ancient Islam, China, and Japan.
In a different section, you can admire European works of art dating from the 11th to the 20th century. The pieces on display come from world-famous artists, such as Thomas Lawrence, Rembrandt, Manet, Degas, Monet, and Renoir, among several others.
11. The National Tile Museum
The tile tradition in Portugal dates back to the Moorish occupation between the 8th and 13th centuries. During this period, the Portuguese learned how to make and paint tiles to decorate buildings. After the Reconquista, the Portuguese continued to use tiles and build unique designs you can still see today in historical buildings all over the country.
Located at Madre de Deus Convent, a building founded in 1501 by Queen Leonor, the National Tile Museum showcases the history of tiles in Portugal. Since the museum’s foundation in 1980, its purpose has been to preserve and promote this unique art that sets Portuguese culture apart.
The museum collection covers tile production from the second half of the 15th century to the present day. Besides the expected tiles, you can also find ceramics and porcelain, the oldest dating back to the 16th century. The most famous tile pieces are The Dancing Lesson, from Willen van der Kloet, and the Panoramic View of Lisbon by Gabriel del Barco, a masterpiece showing the capital’s landscape just before the 1755 earthquake hit.
If you’re curious about exploring the building, check out the Mannerist cloister from the 16th century, the church, decorated with traditional Portuguese tiles, or the Santo António chapel and its 18th-century Baroque decoration.
12. National Museum of Ancient Art
The National Ancient Art Museum is the most important museum in Portugal for art dating between the 12th and the 19th centuries. Inaugurated in 1884, the museum holds the largest public ancient art collection in Portugal.
Among the 40,000 pieces are paintings, sculptures, drawings, and art from Europe, Africa, India, China, and Japan. Such variety reflects the commercial and political relations established during the Portuguese maritime expansion in the 16th century.
The most iconic piece in the collection is the São Vicente de Fora Panels, a set of six panels that depict Portuguese society in the 16th century. Here, you will also find a unique Vasco da Gama portrait and the Biombos Namban, portraying the arrival of the Portuguese navigators in Japan.
At the National Ancient Art Museum, you can admire Portuguese and Chinese ceramics, a collection of ivories and furniture with European motifs, and gold and silver jewelry.
13. National Museum of Contemporary Art of Chiado
The Chiado National Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1911, is located at Saint Francis Convent in Lisbon. It holds a fascinating collection of Portuguese art dating from the 1850s to the present day.
At the museum, you can visit a permanent exhibition presenting paintings, sculptures, and drawings from 1850 to 1975, works and authors of the 19th century, from Romanticism to Symbolism, and from 20th century Modernism to Conceptual Art.
Works from 1975 to the present day are displayed in temporary exhibitions following a regular program, which focuses on contemporary production focused on photography and multimedia.
If you are a fan of Portuguese painters, you will be happy to know you can find the works of Bordallo Pinheiro, José Malhoa, Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, and Almada Negreiros here.
14. MAC/CCB Contemporary Art Museum
Opened in 2023, the MAC/CCB Contemporary Art Museum holds the Government’s Contemporary Art Collection, as well as Teixeira de Freitas, Elipse, and Berardo’s collections.
Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, and Paula Rego are only a few of the famous artists you will find here. Their works are presented within the framework of the movements that their works have defined, enabling a journey through time and providing in-depth knowledge of each context.
