5/5 Marcus H. 3 months ago on Google • 755 reviews New
The
maritime
museum
is
a
celebration
of
Portugese
exploration
and
naval
prowess
and
is
next
to
the
Jeronimos
Monastery.
The
entrance
is
a
bit
confusing
to
find
and
is
opposite
the
cafe/shop
entrance,
in
an
innocuous
part
of
the
monastery
itself
with
two
towers
flanking
the
doors.
Once
you've
bought
tickets
you're
free
to
wander
around
and
there
are
different
rooms,
each
with
their
own
theme.
I
found
the
first
part
fascinating
and
I
really
don't
think
the
early
Portugese
explorers
get
enough
credit
for
their
achievements
in
cartography
and
discovering
areas
previously
unknown
to
Europeans.
We
did
spend
quite
a
while
looking
at
the
map
of
the
routes
the
early
explorers
took
and
the
ships
they
travelled
on
were
amazing,
smaller
than
a
river
barge
now!
These
ships
carried
small
crews
and
sailed
for
months
at
a
time
through
uncharted
waters,
quite
incredible.
The
museum
continued
on
through
the
age
of
gunpowder
to
that
of
steam
and
then
the
modern
era.
There
was
also
a
couple
of
rooms
devoted
to
the
Portugese
fishing
industry,
which
I
skipped.
The
modern
era
section
was
fascinating
as
I
didn't
know
much
about
the
Portugese
African
colonies
or
Portugese
submarines.
All
of
the
rooms
and
exhibits
had
extensive
information
in
English
and
after
a
couple
of
hours
we
were
suffering
brain
overload
but
it
was
all
so
interesting!
The
final
section
showed
the
royal
river
barges
and
also
some
seaplanes
which
were
quite
beautiful.
After
our
visit
we
had
lunch
in
the
museum
cafe
which
was
excellent
value
and
gave
us
time
to
absorb
what
we'd
seen
before
our
next
destination.