Museu do Dinheiro

This is the Money Museum of Lisbon, it lies just next to the Lisbon City Hall and the Bank of Portugal by the square of S. Julião. S. Julião was the name of the church which is now housing the museum within it's walls. Here you will find some of the oldest coins and bank notes in the world, a proper timelined evolution of currency (from the bartering economy we had without money in the Stone Age until the utilisation of the Euro for example). They also have temporary exhibitions, when I was there visiting there was one about the counterfeiting of the Euro currency. The exhibitions also explores how money affects people in different ways and how people use/spend their money to achieve different goals. The museum has also a cafeteria for when you feel you need to spend your well earned money on a cup of tea or coffee as well as a lighter snack/lunch. 

There is a mixture of traditional and modern museographics in this place which has been designed by the atelier of Providência Design. There are several interactive stations, one where you can touch a real gold bullion for example. Others where you can try to exchange objects for another object, or where you can photograph yourself and get a digital version of a coin or a note with your face/profile on. It is very nice to visit this place with the whole family and also a great way to show your kids how it was before the credit/debit cards where introduced.

The building is amazing in itself! If you are just passing by and do not have time to see the whole museum at least step inside and enjoy the light colours and the architecture of the place. The various exhibitions are spread out on the ground floor, the cellar (the ancient chrypt of the old church) as well as on the 1st and 2nd floors.

Do find your way into the old chrypt where you can see a lovely exhibition about Medieval Lisbon. Some parts of the Medieval wall of the king D. Dinis are still in it's original place, it has been classified as a National Monument.  This is an excellent place to visit if you want to catch a glimpse of how Lisbon might have been back then in those times. These walls where erected by the order of the king D. Dinis by the end of the 13th century. Their main goal was to protect the area close to the river from pirate attacks or other threatening visitors since most of the commerce was done in these quarters. Later on, many buildings used these walls as their foundations. After the earthquake of 1755 the walls remained under ground level and have now been rediscovered some 250 years later in 2010 when archaeological excavations where being made in this place.

The entrance is free of charge, just go to the reception desk and ask them to register you as a visitor and they'll give you some more information concerning the museum and the exhibitions.
Opening hours are:
Wed - Sun from 10:00 - 18:00.