National Coach Museum

The National Coach Museum (Portuguese: Museu Nacional dos Coches) is located on the Afonso de Albuquerque Square in the Belém district of Lisbon in Portugal.

The museum was formerly housed in the Royal Riding Hall of Belém, the former home of the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, known as the Picadeiro Real.

The Horse Riding Area was built after 1787, following the Neoclassical design of Italian architect Giacomo Azzolini.

The original museum was created in 1905 by Queen Amélia to house an extensive collection of carriages belonging to the Portuguese royal family and nobility.

There are also several Baroque 18th century carriages decorated with paintings and exuberant gilt woodwork, the most impressive of these being a ceremonial coach given by Pope Clement XI to King John V in 1715, and the three coaches of the Portuguese ambassador to Pope Clement XI, built in Rome in 1716.

The exhibition of royal carriages, ca. 1907
The new museum