Museums and Palaces

The Casa dos Bicos archaeological collection is located in one of the most representative examples of residential architecture of 16th century Lisbon, at the riverside area. It includes artefacts from various eras, including some dating up to 2000 years ago.

Opening in 2014, the Museu de Lisboa - Casa dos Bicos has an impressive array of archaeological structures from various periods and displays some of the many objects found during archaeological interventions. The archaeological interventions carried out in the 1980s by the then Portuguese Institute of Cultural Heritage and in 2010 by the municipality revealed various phases of the evolution of this part of the riverfront between the Roman period and the present day. These findings allowed for the musealisation of some structures.

Traces of a factory unit for fish preparations and condiments from the Roman city of Felicitas Iulia Olisipo have been identified at the foot of the hill near the river beach, probably dating from the 1st century AD. It is still possible to find here four cetaria, rectangular-shaped tanks of varying sizes used for salting fish and preparing garum, a fish sauce or paste used as a seasoning. A semi-circular wall and tower attest to the defensive reinforcement that Roman cities underwent from the end of the 3rd century amid economic, political and military instability.

The progressive deactivation of the Old Wall in this part of the city, which began in the mid-15th century, becomes apparent in the archaeological remains of several constructions that occupied the area inside the walls, delimited to the north by the old Rua dos Arcos, near the current Rua Afonso de Albuquerque. Outside the wall, on the river beach, precarious structures and rubbish dumps have provided evidence of life on the riverbanks. It is also possible to find on display various everyday household objects from the Casa dos Bicos, probably used by its residents until the 1755 earthquake. These include tiles from Seville, porcelain from China, glassware from England, and smoking pipes from the Netherlands.