Maritime Museum

Originally founded by King Luis in 1863 in the city’s Naval School, Lisbon’s Maritime Museum had to be moved in 1916 after the building was gutted by a fire destroying many of the exhibits. After resurrection at the Palace of Count Farrobo, in 1962, the museum was relocated once more to its present home in the Jerónimos Monastery. Today the museum’s collection includes over 17,000 items, 30,000 photographs as well as original plans and archives of approximately 1,500 ships. The first of the museum’s halls looks at the early days of Portuguese discovery and colonisation, and examines the impact this had on the formation of the modern world. Other interesting exhibits include the Deep Sea Fishing Room which details the history of 15th century Portuguese fleets that went on fishing expeditions in the Atlantic waters off the coast of Newfoundland in Canada.