Museu Nacional dos Coches

Museu Nacional dos Coches

Imagine how pompous it would have been to travel in a luxurious carriage, with its cushioned benches and surrounded by a gilded frame. The National Coach Museum of Lisbon is a fascinating exhibition of richly decorated vehicles designed to transport royalty and nobility from the 18th and 19th centuries. It allows the visitor to understand the technical and artistic evolution of the means of transport of animal traction used by the European courts until the appearance of the car.

The artisans created these carved cars with intricate details to make the vehicle stand out, and each one more magnificent than the other. For example the car that was used by the embassy to visit Louis XIV in France which is decorated with motifs of cherubs with bat wings. Another impressive car was built in 1716 for the ambassador of Portugal to Pope Clement XI, which was decorated with scenes of military events in Portugal.