“Museu Nacional do Azulejo” in Lisbon, Portugal, this time I would like to report in detail about the sightseeing and ticket purchase.
Azulejo is a traditional Portuguese craft made of tiles painted with patterns or pictures and baked with special chemicals. It is famous for its vivid blue colors, but there is also a modern version of the azulejo with a unique design, so it is a place you can enjoy.
※This article was written before the virus scandal. This will be updated.
Index
A line is inevitable! Access and admission fees
Access to Museu Nacional do Azulejo is far from metro and tram stations, so the bus is convenient! I took bus number 759 from the metro stop near Baixa-Chiado station and arrived near the museum in a little over 10 minutes.
It is a building with white exterior walls, and there is an entrance of the museum in front of the bus stop. The museum is open from 10:00 ~ 18:00 and closed on Mondays.
There is an entrance of the museum at the back of the courtyard after entering the gate, but when I visited around 15 o’clock, I was surprised that there was a line outside the entrance!
It took 20 minutes to buy the ticket, but this was not because there were too many people waiting in line, only one person was in charge of the reception and it was stuck in traffic …
The ticket is €5. It is a “national” restaurant, so it is nice to be able to enter at a relatively low price!
You can get a map of the building in thick paper in English, so don’t forget to get it.
Exhibition of Azulejo in chronological order
The Museu Nacional do Azulejo consists of 2 floors (Some have two stories.) on the 0th and 1st floors, with a central courtyard with a fountain. It is surrounded by a corridor, an Azulejo exhibition room, and a chapel.
The tour starts from the 0th floor following the lead, but the Azulejo exhibition is in chronological order, with pieces from the 17 century to the beginning. Most of them were religious paintings, but there was a big and splendid azulejo like a Persian rug.
There is a small atrium corridor with a slightly Islamic design near the stairs that connects the 0th floor and the 1st floor, and the wall has an azulejo pattern. You can see unique arches and decorations like you can see in Spain.
Going up to the upper floors, the times progressed a little, and the themes changed from religious ones to landscape paintings and war paintings. There are more and more items with blue color, and this area feels the most like azulejo.
Its creators include the Spanish artist “Gabriel del Barco”, who was active in the 17 century, and the Dutch artist “Willem van der Kloet”, who created the work in the early 17 ~ 18 century.
The last conductor is a work of modern art created from the late 20 century to the present. At this point, the works are full color and colorful, and the themes vary from author to author.
Some of them are so original and unique! At this point, … seems to have gone beyond the realm of azulejo.
have a gorgeous golden chapel
In the Museu Nacional do Azulejo, the chapel is especially gaudy. The contrast between the dazzling golden decoration and the wall filled with azulejo is gorgeous!
This chapel is wiped from the 0th floor to the 1st floor, and you can see through the glass from the 1st floor like this. To enter the chapel, you need to go from the 0th floor, but on this day, for some reason, a robe was pulled and you couldn’t enter …
In front of the 1st floor of the chapel, there is a choir room called Choir, and this room is decorated with paintings in gold frames spread out like panels!
In addition, there is a beautiful small room in front of the mulberry, where you can see the contrast between the golden decoration and the colorful azulejo.
Café where you can drink coffee for €1
Finally, check out this museum’s cafe! The place is in the entrance hall and you can enter without a ticket.
When I went there, I found the cafe with azulejo on the wall, but the chairs and tables were like those of a fast food restaurant, so the atmosphere was not so good. … It was a self-service cafe, so I ordered at the counter.
There are also outdoor seats in the cafe, this is a wooden garden chair and table. It was chilly on this day, so there were few users.
Here is the menu of this cafe. Coffee (Probably espresso.) starts at €1 and port wine starts at €3.
A spot in Lisbon that you want to visit once!
So, we went to the Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisbon, and the azulejo interior is beautifully decorated, which makes it a must-see.
According to the reviews, the queue for entrance is quite common, so it might be better to avoid the peak time such as the first thing in the morning if you visit.
Museu Nacional do Azulejo
- Address：R. Me. Deus 4, 1900-312 Lisboa
- Opening House：10:00～18:00 (Closed on Mondays)
- Website
★Please also try this → “Lisbon” article list