The current National Museum of Archaeology is a centennial institution and was founded in December 1893 following a proposal by José Leite de Vasconcelos.
The Royal Decree, enacted by King Carlos, was signed by two ministers of the government of Hintze Ribeiro: João Chagas, minister of the Kingdom, and Bernardino Machado, minister of Public Works, Trade and Industry, the political patron of the idea. The relationship of friendship and collaboration between Bernardino Machado and Leite de Vasconcelos predates the creation of the Museum and continued until the latter died in 1941.
In more than a century of existence, this Museum has established itself as the reference institution of Portuguese archaeology, with regular interactions with museums, universities and research centres around the world. The Museum's collection brings together the initial collections of its founder and of Estácio da Veiga. The museum has several collections acquired over time. These include collections from other departments of the State such as the archaeology collections of the former Portuguese Royal House, which were incorporated into the museum after the establishment of the Republic, and the archaeology collections of the former Museum of Fine Arts. Additionally, the museum received donations or legacies from collectors and friends of the museum such as Bustorff Silva, Luís Bramão, and Samuel Levy. Some of the collections were obtained through the museum's field activities or through archaeologists. Others were obtained through government orders, according to the applicable legislation, whenever archaeological assets discovered in the country were considered of national value.
Designed by Leite de Vasconcelos to be a kind of Museum of the Portuguese Man, the National Museum of Archaeology has the same vocation today: to tell the story of the settlement of our territory, from the origins to the Middle Ages, lato sensu, although its collections have cultural assets and documents that chronologically go back to the twentieth century. This is the only institution in Portugal capable of doing so, given the collections it hosts, its technical resources and considering its location in the Jerónimos Monastery attracting a large number of national and foreign visitors.
