Lisboa Story Centre

Inside the Lisboa Story Centre

The exhibition runs over two floors, from the legends of Lisbon’s founding to the square outside the door, and an audio guide starts by itself as you reach each scene.

Myths, caravels and the warehouse of the world

The first area is about the river, the myths of where Lisbon came from and the walls that once ringed it.

From there the city goes global. You walk into a 16th-century warehouse stacked with goods from the New World, with replica caravels, the ships of Portugal’s voyages of discovery, alongside.

The 1755 earthquake room

The third area gets a room of its own. Its four chapters lead into 1 November 1755: the Church, All Saints’ Day, the earthquake itself and the destroyed city.

Then the film of the earthquake and the tsunami plays on screens that wrap round you. It’s the part visitors remember. The room has recently gained new sets and sensory effects, and the film may upset young children, up to about six.

Pombal, the square and the Future Room

After the disaster, the Marquis of Pombal, the king’s chief minister, takes over. His area has two chapters, on planning a modern city and on building it, and the last one downstairs is about Praça do Comércio, under the title Politics and Leisure.

Upstairs, Virtual Lisbon lets you dig into episodes from the city’s past on touchscreens in Portuguese and English, and before-and-after slideshows change as you walk past them.

Across the same floor, the Future Room shows the Lisbon that architects and engineers dreamed up and never built: tunnels, bridges and links across the Tagus. At a digital table you make the choices and see what they’d have done to the city.

Lisboa Story Centre tickets, hours and the audio guide

The ticket includes the audio guide, and with the Lisboa Card you just show it at the door.

On its own, entry is €8, so the card isn’t worth buying for this alone. A 24-hour Lisboa Card at €31 pays off on a fuller day, with pricier tickets such as the Jerónimos or the castle, and it takes 10% off in the centre’s shop.

Visitors go in by groups of about 12, one group every five minutes. You don’t have to book a time, though the centre suggests it so groups don’t bunch up at busy moments.

Once inside, the centre puts the average visit at an hour, and visitors often recommend it as a first stop, to get the city’s story straight before you walk it. The audio guide shows each chapter’s number on a screen, and you can pick a chapter by hand whenever you want to move on.

Photos are allowed everywhere, flash included, except during the earthquake film. Tripods, food and drink stay outside, and there’s no café. The virtual-reality experience in the same building belongs to another company, with its own ticket, and the card doesn’t cover it.

On access, there’s a ramp at the entrance and a lift between the floors that takes one wheelchair at a time. The way out of the earthquake room is a sloping ramp, and you leave through the shop over a small step.

Getting to the Lisboa Story Centre on Praça do Comércio

The centre opened on 11 September 2012, on the ground floor of the square’s east wing. Lisbon calls the square both Praça do Comércio and Terreiro do Paço.

Until then the wing belonged to government ministries. The wing was restored to open the square to the city, and inside you walk under its old vaulted ceilings.

Take the blue metro line to Terreiro do Paço and use the Praça do Comércio exit. Trams 15E and 25E stop on the square too, all on the Lisboa Card.