National Museum of Ancient Art Lisbon (MNAA): Status, Reopening, Star Works and Price

The Short Answer

The National Museum of Ancient Art has been closed for renovation works since 29 September 2025. Museus e Monumentos de Portugal announces a partial reopening on Saturday 21 November 2026 at 15:00. Admission is free from 21 November to 1 December inclusive, then the normal tariff returns. Do not plan a full-collection visit for the reopening weekend.

The works cost 8.5 million euros and are funded under the PRR, Portugal's recovery plan. They cover the north facade and roofs of the former Alvor wing, a restored chapel, a renewed auditorium and the second-floor international decorative arts. Older pages that still say no reopening date has been announced are out of date.

While the museum is dark, other Lisbon museums are open. The Gulbenkian Museum holds European painting and decorative arts, the Museu do Oriente holds the Asia collections, and the free museums in Lisbon page lists what costs nothing at all.

Free Entry Days at the Reopening

Entry costs nothing from Saturday 21 November to Tuesday 1 December 2026, both inclusive. From 2 December the normal tariff applies, and that tariff had not been confirmed at the time the reopening was announced.

The opening weekend carries a programme of free guided visits, workshops and concerts. Saturday 21 November runs 15:00-20:00 and Sunday 22 November runs 10:00-18:00.

If you are building a free day around it, the Free Museums in Lisbon page explains the other standing free rules in the city, including the Sunday-afternoon openings at the Gulbenkian.

The Confirmed Reopening Programme

The partial reopening on 21 November 2026 at 15:00 opens the second-floor international decorative arts, the new temporary exhibitions, the restored Capela das Albertas and the renewed auditorium. The works also renewed the north facade and the roofs of the former Alvor wing of the palace. Free guided visits, workshops and concerts run through the opening weekend.

What the reopening does not cover is just as important. No source lists the painting galleries or the rooms holding the Panels of St Vincent, the Bosch, the Dürer, the Namban screens or the Belém Monstrance as part of the 21 November opening. The restoration of the Panels has been running since 2020 and appears as a project on the museum's own site, without a gallery reopening date attached.

That means a visit during the free window buys you decorative arts, chapel and temporary shows, not the famous paintings. Check the museum's programme before going if a specific work is the reason for your trip.

Status of Each Part of the Museum

The table sums up what the reopening announcements from Museus e Monumentos de Portugal and the Portuguese press actually name for 21 November. Anything not named there should be treated as unconfirmed rather than closed, since the museum may add spaces without a new announcement. Figures and statuses come from those three published sources.

Opening Hours

Museus e Monumentos de Portugal shows the museum open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, with the last entry at 17:30. These are the pre-closure figures and none of them has been confirmed for the period after the reopening.

For the opening weekend the hours differ. Saturday 21 November runs 15:00-20:00 and Sunday 22 November runs 10:00-18:00.

Monday is the main closure day across Lisbon's national and municipal museums. If you land on a Monday, the Gulbenkian Museum, MAAT and the Royal Treasure Museum are among the options that are not closed that day, and the homepage week planner lists every museum by day.

Closed Days

The listed annual closure days are 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May, 13 June and 25 December. Whether these days apply unchanged after the reopening is not stated in the reopening announcements.

Since 1 August 2024, national museums run the Acesso 52 rule. Portuguese citizens and residents get 52 free days a year at the Ministry of Culture sites, any weekday, on showing a Cartão de Cidadão. Tourists do not qualify, and children under 12 enter free at national museums.

The Lisboa Card page tracks which passes and discounts cover the museum once it is open again.

Prices

The regular tariff listed before the closure was €15 ($16.73). That figure is not confirmed for after the free period ends on 1 December, when the free reopening period ends. Entry is free for everyone from 21 November to 1 December inclusive, which is the one price point you can rely on.

The official Lisboa Card shop currently lists the museum as closed, even though older card lists show the MNAA as free with the card. Treat the card question as open until the museum confirms its post-reopening arrangements, and compare passes on the Lisboa Card for Museums page.

• Opening weekend hours: Saturday 15:00-20:00, Sunday 10:00-18:00
• Listed hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-18:00, last entry 17:30
• Monday closure expected but unconfirmed

The Five Works People Come for

Five works anchor any visit to the National Museum of Ancient Art. The Panels of St Vincent by Nuno Gonçalves are the usual answer to Portugal's most important painting. The Belém Monstrance dates from 1506. The other three are Hieronymus Bosch's Temptations of St Anthony, the Japanese Namban screens and Dürer's St Jerome.

Here is the problem for a visitor in the reopening period. The announcements for 21 November name the decorative arts floor, the temporary exhibitions, the chapel and the auditorium. They do not say where the Panels, the Bosch, the Dürer, the Namban screens or the Monstrance will be displayed. The Panels' restoration has run since 2020 and is presented as an open project on the museum's site, with no return date.

So no promise can be made about seeing any of these works after 21 November. If one of them is the reason for your trip, contact the museum or check its site before you go.

Loans Outside the Building

The museum's homepage carries two lending projects, MNAA is here and MNAA at the MNSR, with pieces lent to other institutions in 2025 and 2026 while the building is worked on. Some of the collection is on show outside the building through these loans.

The projects do not list which specific star works are on loan, so a work may be either in Lisbon unseen or on the road.

For painting and decorative arts that are open now, try the Gulbenkian Museum, and the art museums in Lisbon guide sorts the whole city by period.

Scale and Range

The collection counts over 40,000 items, more of them classified as National Treasures by the Portuguese State than any other collection in the country. The span runs from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

The holdings include painting, goldwork and decorative arts. European painting includes works attributed to Memling, Raphael and Piero della Francesca alongside the Bosch and the Dürer. The Belém Monstrance is the goldwork highlight, and the second-floor international decorative arts are the part reopening first.

If the Asian material is what draws you, note that the Museu do Oriente in Alcântara holds the Portuguese Presence in Asia collection, and its entry ticket covers all exhibitions for €10 ($11.15).

The Building

The museum occupies the former palace of the Counts of Alvor in the Janelas Verdes street, a 17th-century building known as the Alvor-Pombal palace. It has housed the museum for close to 140 years.

The current works touch this fabric directly, renewing the north facade and the roofs of the former Alvor wing and restoring the Capela das Albertas, the palace chapel. The renovated part reopens first on 21 November.

The site also holds a library, a shop, an auditorium and a restaurant with a terrace over the Tagus. What hours the restaurant and terrace keep during the partial reopening is not stated, so treat them as unconfirmed until the museum publishes its new arrangements.

Finding It

The museum sits on Rua das Janelas Verdes in the Santos / Lapa area,

No connections are listed here for the reopening, so enter the address in a journey planner on the day. The museum's phone number is +351 213 912 800.

The National Coach Museum and MAAT are in Belém, further west along the Tagus, and the homepage map shows all the museums in Lisbon at once.

European Painting and Treasure

The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum is the closest substitute. Its Founder's Collection runs from Egyptian art through European painting, goldwork and the decorative arts, including Lalique jewellery and Rembrandt's Portrait of an Old Man. It is open on Mondays, the day the MNAA is expected to stay closed. The full rundown is on the Gulbenkian Museum page.

For gold and royal silver, the Royal Treasure Museum inside the Ajuda National Palace holds the Crown Jewels and Germain silver across 11 sections. Entry is €11 ($12.27). Details on the Royal Treasure and Ajuda Palace page.

Decorative Arts and Asia

The reopening floor is international decorative arts. The National Tile Museum covers Portuguese tile, but it has been closed for works since 1 November 2025.

For Asian material, the Museu do Oriente in Alcântara holds the Portuguese Presence in Asia collection and the Kwok On collection, with an entry ticket to all exhibitions for €10 ($11.15). See the Museu do Oriente page.

For the full sweep, the art museums in Lisbon guide lines up every collection by period and price, and the homepage compares museums in Lisbon on closed day, tariff and Lisboa Card coverage.

A Short Chronology

The National Museum of Ancient Art was created in 1884, with roots in the 1833 dissolution of the Portuguese monasteries. It moved into the Janelas Verdes palace, the former residence of the Counts of Alvor, and has stayed there ever since, close to 140 years in the same building.

The collection holds more National Treasures than any other Portuguese collection.

The current chapter is the renovation closed since 29 September 2025, funded with 8.5 million euros under the PRR recovery plan. It renews the Alvor wing's facade and roofs, restores the Capela das Albertas, renews the auditorium and covers the second-floor international decorative arts. The partial reopening on 21 November 2026 at 15:00 is the first public step, with no date announced for the full museum.