Lisbon - Chiado Museum Museu do Chiado

Must-see attractions nearby: Old Quarter Gulbenkian Museum Praça do Comércio St George's Castle Carmo Lift Igreja de Santa Engrácia / Panteao Igreja de Sao Vicente de Fora

Under the supervision of the internationally renowned architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte (born 1948), who was also responsible for one of the museum wings of the Louvre in Paris, an extremely striking building was produced, a happy combination of old and new architectural features.

The Museu de Arte Contemporânea evolved from a former state owned museum which was divided in 1911 into the Museum of (then) Contemporary Art and the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga. At the time of this division all Portuguese works of art created after 1850 were moved from the museum in the Rua das Janelas Verdes into the rooms of a former monastery, where the Biblioteca Nacional was then situated, and where the art college (Academia das Belas Artes) was accommodated.