National Coach Museum

The National Coach Museum is located on the Afonso de Albuquerque Square in the Belém district of Lisbon in Portugal. The museum has one of the finest collections of historical carriages in the world and is one of the most visited museums of the city.The museum was formerly housed in the Royal Riding Hall of Belém, the former home of the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, known as the Picadeiro Real. The Picadeiro Real is part of the larger Belém Palace complex, formerly a Royal Palace, which is now the official residence of the President of Portugal. The Horse Riding Area was built after 1787, following the Neoclassical design of Italian architect Giacomo Azzolini. Several Portuguese artists decorated the interior of the building with paintings and tile panels. The inner arena is 50 m long and 17 m wide, and was used for training horses and for horse riding exhibitions and games, which could be watched from its balconies by the Portuguese royal family. Since 2015, the bulk of the collection has been housed in a new museum situated close to the Picadeiro Real, but the original museum area can still be visited and contains six coaches and other exhibits.

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