The Calouste Gulbenkian museum is the greatest Portuguese museum and is worthy of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao and even of Le Louvre in France. The name does not belong to a Portuguese navigator nor to a king but to a native of Istanbul who built his great fortune on petrol. Calouste Gulbenkian was a businessman whose wealth came from Iraqi petrol but was also a real amateur of art. He dedicated a large part of his fortune to buying the most beautiful masterpieces. He bought indeed many paintings from the Ermitage of Saint-Petersburg such as The Centaurs by Rubens, the portrait of an old man by Rembrandt and other works by great European artists like Van Dyck and Quentin de la Tour. The museum also contains archaeologic objects from Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece. It also displays modern art objects from impressionism to art deco. The magnificient collection was given by the patron of the arts at his death to Portugal, his country of adoption. Surrounded by a natural park, the museum was built in accordance with Frank Lloyd's precepts. Along with the art collection, the art loving businessman also created a foundation that supports contemporaneous art by grants for artists from all over the world. The museum hosts great artist exhibition and concerts. In short, the Calouste Gulbenkian museum is one of the greatest cultural centres in Europe.
To see: the collection of European paintings, the hall dedicated to René Lalique, the unequalled master glazier of late XIXth century; To do: concert, walk in the park.
Read the guide
Map
Multimedia
Calouste Gulbenkian museum Address: Avenida de Berna, 45-A
, Lisbon, Portugal 
http://www.museu.gulbenkian.pt 
Calouste Gulbenkian museum Opening time: tuesday - sunday: 10h - 17h45
Calouste Gulbenkian museum Price: 3,00 
