The three Roman coaches
The gilded 1716 baroque that dazzled the Pope.
www.mgaylard.co.uk and thanks for looking — CC BY 2.0 · www.mgaylard.co.uk and thanks for looking — CC BY 2.0 · The Basingstoker — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Colin Smith — CC BY-SA 2.0
Among Lisbon's most child-successful museums without trying: real Cinderella coaches at full scale with carved dragons and gold — and the wide halls forgive motion. An excellent family hour between the tower and the pastries.
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The Coach Museum is uncontested greatest of its kind on earth: Europe's royal ceremonial carriages from the 16th to the 19th century — seventy originals crowned by the three Roman Embassy coaches (1716): gilded baroque carved with fleets and continents, sent by João V to dazzle the Pope and dazzling history instead. You see Philip II's rough 16th-century coach and read luxury's evolution century by century to royal children's carriages and the English mail coach — every piece a pageant of carving, gold and silk rivalling palaces. The modern building (2015) displays them in light and space — and the original royal hall (the Picadeiro riding school) across the street, on its small ticket, earns adding for its air. It is Belém's standing surprise: entered out of politeness, left astonished.
The gilded 1716 baroque that dazzled the Pope.
The 16th century's roughness before luxury's birth.
Avenida da Índia 136, 1300-004 Lisbon