Locations

It was decided to build CCB in 1988. The complex comprises a centre for temporary exhibitions which since 2006 has housed the Berardo Museum, a module with multipurpose rooms, an auditorium for symphonic music and opera performances and another geared to the performing arts, as well as a conference centre that hosted Portugal’s Presidency of the European Union in 1992.

On May 23, 1905 the “Royal Coach Museum” was inaugurated in Lisbon by initiative of Queen Amélia of Orleans and Bragança, Princess of France, daughter of the Count of Paris, who married King Carlos I of Portugal in 1886.The location chosen to accommodate the world’s first coach museum was in the antique hall of the Royal Riding School modified, specifically to this end, by the Court’s architect, Rosendo Carvalheira in collaboration with the painters José Malhoa and Conceição e Silva who, together, were able to achieve an almost perfect harmony between the location and the exhibition of State Vehicles.

São Julião da Barra Fort is one of Portugal’s largest maritime fortifi- cations and is impressive for its size and power. Besides being the official residence of the Portuguese Ministry of Defence, it is the largest Vauban-style military complex in the country. On foggy mornings and afternoons, the line of its walls looks like the bow of a ship ploughing along the Tagus. It was built to protect the sandbar and access to the port of Lisbon. Construction began in the 16th century under King João III and its walls have been witness to some of Portugal’s major military confrontations. It’s well worth discovering its history protected by the ditches and bastions at the entrance to the city.

The building where the Foundation is located, created by the architect João Simões Antunes, was a factory and a Central of Telex before. Originally, owned by Instituto Superior Técnico (a Portuguese school of engineering), the building was sold in 1944, for the price of 645 000 escudos (the Portuguese currency at the time) to the company H. Vaultier. Vaultier transformed the three parts of the structure into a single one.