What is it?
The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, designed by architects Ruy Jervis d’Athouguia, Pedro Cid and Alberto Pessoa, was built in 1969 to house the roughly six thousand pieces collected by its founder, Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian. The main gallery showcases around a thousand of these works, organised into sections dedicated to Egyptian and Greco-Roman art, as well as pieces from Mesopotamia, the Islamic world, Armenia, the Far East and the West. The Western section includes Sculpture, Book Art, Painting, 18th-century French Decorative Arts, and a remarkable collection of works by René Lalique.
How long is it closed for?
The museum’s main collection is currently closed until July 2026, but trust us – this is so much more than a museum. Its gardens are some of the most beautiful in the city, the concert hall is still doing shows, the art library is continuously great and there’s the new CAM - Modern Art Centre to admire. Plus the Great Works Gulbenkian exhibition staying open until September 2025 is well worth a visit.
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