Museu de Lisboa – Teatro Romano

Due to reopen in mid 2015 after an archaeological dig and refurbishment, this little museum just up from the Sé provides some context for the Roman Theatre that's visible to passers-by on Rua de São Mamede. This is probably Portugal's only Roman amphitheatre, seating perhaps 5,000, and is proof that Olisipo, as Lisbon was then known, was a major outpost. A first-century wall that was designed to prevent the whole pile from sliding down the slope is visible on the museum's upper floor, next to a pretty covered patio. It also houses columns and other decorative elements from the site, including an inscription dedicating the theatre to Nero and a copy of a sculpture of Silenus. The museum occupies a renovated 19th-century factory.