In recent years I have come to the conclusion that places with the weirdest names tend to be the most interesting ones. Let’s test it. Electricity Museum. Imagine going to Lisbon and visiting the Electricity Museum instead of Alfama and other attractions. You can even have a nice meal and Fado music in a nice restaurant, anything but that museum.
Well, in fact, this museum is more than worth being included in traveler’s checklist. Why? There are a few reasons.
First, if you are interested in Lisbon’s architecture, and there are many architectural marvels in this city, you will love the building. It used to be the main power plant of the capital in the early 20th century, so it’s a part of Lisbon’s history as well. Interestingly, the Portuguese have a great design even for power plants, which usually look quite boring in other places.
Next, this building takes the main role in the development of electricity in Lisbon, which means that the interior and machinery have also undergone some life-changing alternations.
The museum is located on the bank of the river Tegus. It’s in Belém and is very close to the Monument of Discoveries (you might want to combine these two destinations).
This institution hosts both permanent and temporary exhibitions. The permanent exhibition is all about electricity and its development. You will learn how we, humans, started to use energy as a resource, what we invented thanks to it, and so on. Considering the fact that our daily life today is impossible without electricity, the stories of times when we had to light a candle at nights to see each other will sound out of this world.
Temporary exhibitions, on the other hand, are not directly connected to electricity, but still are related to the sphere. Some of them display works of architecture, photography, and so on. It is possible that at the time of your visit, the museum will offer both permanent and temporary exhibitions. If that’s the case, you should definitely visit the permanent exhibition first, and only if you have time, go over the temporary one too.
The reason is not because the temporary exhibitions are not interesting, but the fact that the permanent one is way thrilling. You can see old machinery that were used to provide electricity, learn some interesting facts about the nature of energy, and so on.
Although this museum is meant for adults, your kids are also going to have fun. There are many “toys” boys can play with and combine the useful with the informative.
The only bad thing is that there is no parking nearby. You can take public transport (only be careful not to get lost), walk there (this might take too long), or find a parking space a little farther, thus cutting the distance you have to walk.
Take the camera for you’ll have the opportunity of catching incredible shots, ones you don’t come across every day.
The museum is guaranteed to be very interesting, it is full of surprises and facts you never knew. It’s not only about Thomas Edison and his famous inventions. In other words, they speak of one of the most important things human beings invented throughout their history, i.e. ways of using energy for the good of humankind. And now, those goods are displayed for tourists. A century later, your descendants will come to this museum and observe your brand new iPhone or car motor.
