Set in a lemon-fronted, 17th-century palace, the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga is Lapa’s biggest draw. It presents a star-studded collection of European and Asian paintings and decorative arts.
Keep an eye out for highlights such as Nuno Gonçalves’ naturalistic Panels of São Vicente , Dürer’s St Jerome , Lucas Cranach’s haunting Salomé and Courbet’s bleak Snow .
Other gems include golden wonder the Monstrance of Belém , a souvenir from Vasco da Gama’s second voyage, and 16th-century Japanese screens depicting the arrival of the namban (southern barbarians), namely big-nosed Portuguese explorers. Admission is free for under 12s.
