The Minister of Culture, Dalila Rodrigues, has announced a measure that will completely change access to culture in the country: from now on, all residents in Portugal will be able to enter 44 cultural spaces, including museums, monuments, palaces, churches and libraries under the management of the company Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, free of charge and every day of the week.
Until now you could visit these cultural spaces on Sundays and public holidays, so this measure considerably increases this possibility. However, there are some restrictions.
How will these free visits proceed?
This innovative measure was taken in the past International Museum Day, at the Grão Vasco National Museum in Viseu, where it was also learned that free visits to these 44 spaces will be restricted.
Each Portuguese citizen will have free access to 52 entries per year, the equivalent of one entry per week.
This count will be carried out via a mobile application, making these visits simpler and more efficient, both for citizens and for registering in these spaces.
The 16 cultural venues in Lisbon
In Lisbon, which is the city with the largest number of publicly-run cultural facilities, 16 venues will be covered by this measure:
- Ajuda Library
- Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves House-Museum
- Jerónimos Monastery
- National Pantheon
- Ajuda National Palace
- National Tile Museum
- National Museum of Ancient Art
- National Museum of Contemporary Art in Chiado
- National Archaeological Museum
- National Coach Museum
- National Museum of Ethnology
- Museum of Popular Art
- National Costume Museum
- National Museum of Theater and Dance
- Royal Riding Arena
- Tower of Belém
If you’ve already visited all of these in Lisbon, there are other very interesting possibilities throughout the country, many of them very close to the city:
- Church of São Miguel do Castelo, Guimarães
- Church of Santo Amaro, Visigothic Center of the Rainha D. Leonor Museum, Beja
- Guimarães Castle, Guimarães
- Rainha D. Leonor Museum, Beja
- Miranda Land Museum, Miranda do Douro
- Paço dos Duques, Guimarães
- National Music Museum, Mafra
- Mafra National Palace, Mafra
- José Malhoa Museum, Caldas da Rainha
- Guarda Museum, Guarda
- National Museum of Resistance and Freedom, Peniche
- Grão Vasco National Museum, Viseu
- Soares dos Reis National Museum, Porto
- Friar Manuel do Cenáculo National Museum, Évora
- Machado de Castro National Museum, Coimbra
- Dr. Joaquim Manso Museum, Nazaré
- D. Diogo Sousa Archaeology Museum Diogo de Sousa, Braga
- Lamego Museum, Lamego
- National Museum of Conímbriga, Condeixa-a-Velha
- Ceramics Museum, Caldas da Rainha
- Biscainhos Museum, Braga
- Alberto Sampaio Museum, Guimarães
- Abada de Baçal Museum, Bragança
- Alcobaça Monastery, Alcobaça
- Fernando de Castro House-Museum, Porto
- Sagres Fortress, Sagres
- Convent of Christ, Tomar
- Batalha Monastery, Batalha
The importance of this measure
This ease of access to these sites will have a huge impact on cultural inclusion, allowing more people to explore and discover our historical, cultural and artistic heritage.
Portugal is thus taking another important step towards democratizing access to culture, which will benefit not only residents but also domestic tourists.
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