The museum is home to what is probably the finest collection of pre-20th century artillery in the world, much of which sits out in an enormous courtyard for lack of room to pack it all in inside.
In the 16th century the building housed a foundry where cannon were cast. Some weaponry was still manufactured on the site until the early 20th century. Now the foundry space houses a chronologically arranged exhibition demonstrating changes in the technology of artillery through the centuries.
The Artillery Museum was founded in 1851. As suggested by the change of name to Military Museum (in 1926), there are more than just cannon on display. Besides swords and firearms and a couple of knights in full armour, there is rather a fine display of South-East Asian swords.
The place is worth a visit even if you are not that interested in the exhibits. The building itself is designed as a triumphalist memorial to Portugal’s military history. The rooms have been decorated by leading Portuguese artists to celebrate their country’s military prowess.The military items and paintings on display are designed to teach the visitor about key moments of Portuguese history, such as the discovery of the sea route to India, the Portuguese participation in the First World War and the pacification campaigns conducted by Mouzinho de Albuquerque in Mozambique in the last quarter of the 19th century.
The effect is both impressive and simultaneously slightly mad. It hints, I think, at the psychology of the dictatorship under which much of it was developed.
The Museum is hardly promoted at all: when we were there we appeared to be the only visitors. That’s a shame given how fascinating the place is. If you are ever in Lisbon, do go and see it.
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