The town museum holds a bit of everything: swords and pistols, landscapes and portraits, minerals and crystals, coins, Moorish pottery, miniature furniture, Roman mosaics, African artefacts, stone tools, model boats, the original 1504 town charter and an intriguing model of an imaginary Portuguese town. Exhibits are scattered randomly through the museum, with limited explanations, making it unwittingly like a treasure hunt. The museum is also the entry point for the baroque Igreja de Santo António.
Museu Municipal
Lagos
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
13.71 MILES
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14.27 MILES
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18.9 MILES
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18.67 MILES
Europe’s southwesternmost point is a barren headland 6km northwest of Sagres' town centre that was the last piece of home that Portuguese sailors once saw…
Nearby Lagos attractions
0.01 MILES
A baroque extravaganza, this little church bursts with gilded, carved wood and beaming cherubs. The dome and azulejo panels were installed during repairs…
0.06 MILES
The symmetrical Igreja de Santa Maria was built during the 15th and 16th centuries and retains a 16th-century entrance; the rest of the remaining…
0.08 MILES
Set in the building believed to be Europe's first slave market, when slaves from the west coast of Africa were brought here in 1444, this small museum…
0.08 MILES
Built by the Moors, Lagos' castle was conquered by Christian forces in the 13th century. It's said that the ill-fated, evangelical Dom Sebastião attended…
5. Statue of Prince Henry the Navigator
0.09 MILES
This statue commemorates the prince of Portugal who used Lagos as a launch pad for many of the expeditions he commissioned. It was inaugurated in 1960 on…
0.15 MILES
Part of the medieval walls, this archway provides southern access to the old town.
7. Fortaleza da Ponta da Bandeira
0.16 MILES
Entered via a drawbridge, this petite fortress was built in the 17th century to protect the port. Now restored, it houses an exhibition on the Portuguese…
0.2 MILES
Arcing in a 4km-long crescent, this vast expanse of golden sand has water sports outlets, and laid-back restaurants and beach bars.