If art and beautiful antiques are your jam, then the Calouse Gulbenkian Museum near Parque Eduardo VII and Praça de Espanha is full of fruits in which you can partake. Don’t let the non-descript concrete rectangular structures put you off, there are plenty of gems inside to behold.
Gulbenkian was an Armenian living in Turkey during the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th century, but left Turkey fearing Armenian persecution. He eventually landed in London and became a British citizen. He later moved to Paris and then to Lisbon during World War II.
He collected over 6,000 pieces of art and antiques from all over the world dating back over 5,000 years of history including pieces from ancient Egypt, Greece, Persia and Japan, Islamic Art and paintings including several by the impressionists of Monet and Manet, Renoir and Degas.
Clockwise from top left: Coast of Norway, 1660 Ruisdael; The Astronomer, 1777 Lépicié; Windmills, 1871, Daubigny; The Mirror of Venus, 1877 Burne-Jones; Portrait of Camille Monet, 1873, Renoir; Feast of Ascension in Piazza San Marco, 1775, Guardi
His collection had been divided and some kept at the British Museum and National Gallery of London and had been in discussions with Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art to house his entire collection as he wanted it all to reside under one roof. Alas, he died before that vision was realized.
In 1960, the collection came to Portugal and was eventually moved to its current location, built especially to house it, in 1969.
The Spring, Janniot, 1919-24; The Virgin and Saint John, Upper Rhine, 1500-20; La Grande Nue, France, 1921
Adult admission is €10 as of this posting.
Sources:
The Traveling Ridleys 
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