National Museum of Costume

Welcome to the Moo-ZAY-oo Na-syo-NAL doo TRA-zhuh, or the National Museum of Costume, located in the serene northern outskirts of LEESH-boa. We stand before the Palah-syo An-zheh-zhah Pal-meh-lah, an elegant eighteenth-century…

Before we delve into the wardrobes of the past, let us pause to appreciate the container itself. The Palah-syo An-zheh-zhah Pal-meh-lah is a prime example of Pombaline architecture, rebuilt and expanded after the devastating…

We begin our chronological journey in the first grand salon, dedicated to the Baroque and Rococo styles of the eighteenth century. This was an era of extreme ostentatiousness, where clothing was the ultimate indicator of wealth…

As we move into the next gallery, the mood shifts dramatically. We have entered the post-Revolutionary period, dominated by the Empire style. …

Continuing our walk, we enter the mid-to-late nineteenth century, a period of rapidly changing technology and social structures. Fashion during this time returned to a more structured and often restrictive form. …

The final galleries of the costume collection bring us into the twentieth century, an era of unprecedented change and individual expression. We see the liberation from the corset during the First World War, the glamorous beaded…

After the concentrated history of the indoors, we step out into the eleven-hectare Monteiro-Mor Botanical Park. This is one of Lisbon’s hidden green treasures, developed in the late eighteenth century by the same Marquis of…

Deep within the park, we find a singular botanical monument: the first Araucaria known in Portugal. This towering evergreen, with its distinctive horizontal branches and sharp, needle-like leaves, was brought to Lisbon in the…

Our visit to the National Museum of Costume and the Monteiro-Mor Park draws to a close. We have seen how fashion is much more than a superficial pursuit; it is a profound record of human history, reflecting our revolutions, our…