Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Museu de Artes Decorativas
MUSEUM
(Museum of Decorative Arts; 218 814 600;
www.fress.pt
; Largo das Portas do Sol 2; adult/child €4/2;
10am-5pm Wed-Mon)
Set in a petite 17th-century palace, the Museu de Artes Decorativas
creaks under the weight of treasures including blingy French silverware, priceless Qing
vases and Indo-Chinese furniture. It's worth a visit alone to admire the lavish apartments,
embellished with baroque
azulejos,
frescos and chandeliers.
Museu do Teatro Romano
(Roman Theatre Museum; Pátio do Aljube 5; 10am-1pm & 2-6pm Tue-Sun)
The ultramodern Museu do
Teatro Romano catapults you back to Emperor Augustus' rule in Olisipo (Lisbon). Head
upstairs and across the street for the star attraction - a ruined
Roman theatre
extended in AD
57, buried in the 1755 earthquake and finally unearthed in 1964.
MUSEUM
Casa dos Bicos
(
www.josesaramago.org
;
Rua dos Bacalhoeiros 10; admission €3; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat)
The pincushion
facade of Casa dos Bicos - the eccentric 16th-century abode of Afonso de Albuquerque,
former viceroy to In dia - grabs your attention with 1125 pyramid-shaped stones. Long
closed to the public, the Casa reopened in 2012 to house a small museum dedicated to
José Saramago (1922-2010), Portugal's most famous writer.
Known for his discursive, cynical and darkly humorous novels, Saramago gained
worldwide attention after winning the Nobel Prize in 1998. His best works mine the depth
of the human experience and are often set in a uniquely Portuguese landscape. Stop in the
bookstore to pick up one of his works, and don't miss the olive tree planted out front,
taken from his birthplace of Azinhaga. Below the tree are the ashes of the great writer.
HISTORIC SITE
