Before the Museum

Opening 22 OCT | 6pm

Free admission, subject to room capacity

 

Each of the different spaces that house the museum – terrace, patio, archaeological site, south building, or the reception next to Rua de São Mamede – has an unsuspected past and stories hidden behind each other’s.

The purpose of this exhibition is to unveil some of those lives and stories, stripping the past as if it was made of layers of earth that, slowly and carefully, are being removed.

The word «museum» derives from the Greek, meaning the temples or shrines where the muses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, lived. 

It also stands for library or a creative space, as it was the place dedicated to music and art. Thus, a museum is a synonym for home and memory, creation, and protection.

These two sides of its concept – protection of the past and memory, but also its revival and interpretation – are two of the main goals of the Museum of Lisbon - Roman Theatre. This is a museum of many layers and lives, which, just like Archaeology, should be read in a stratigraphic sequence.