Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 04/06/2026 18:12:00

Set on the eastern Torreao Nascente of the great Praca do Comercio square in the historic Baixa district of central Lisbon, the Centro Interpretativo da Historia do Bacalhau is a small specialist interactive museum dedicated to the wider Portuguese cultural history of the cod fishing tradition. The museum opened on 22 July 2020 and provides one of the principal contemporary interactive cultural centres of the historic central riverside district of the Portuguese capital. The museum was founded by the Lisbon Tourism Association and the Lisbon City Council, working in collaboration with the supplementary municipal authorities of Aveiro and Ilhavo on the central Portuguese coast. The total construction and development cost of the museum was approximately one and a half million euros. The principal exhibition design was developed by a multi-disciplinary team combining the principal museum technical staff of the wider Lisbon Tourism Association with the Aveiro maritime historical specialists and the various contemporary interactive technical design specialists. The principal cultural focus of the museum is the substantial historical role of the cod fishing tradition in the wider Portuguese national culture across the past five centuries. The wider Portuguese cod fishing tradition, conducted primarily on the substantial Newfoundland fishing grounds off the eastern Canadian coast, was originally established during the early sixteenth century immediately following the original Portuguese discovery of Newfoundland by Joao Vaz Corte-Real in around 1473. The wider Portuguese cod fishing tradition continued continuously through the following four and a half centuries to its modern peak during the mid twentieth century. The principal exhibition is arranged across two principal floors of the historic eastern Torreao Nascente building. The principal lower floor covers the wider historical narrative of the substantial Portuguese maritime expeditions to the Newfoundland fishing grounds across the past five centuries. The various individual exhibits include the principal historical maps and charts of the wider Newfoundland fishing grounds, the substantial historical photographs and personal records of the various individual Portuguese cod fishing expeditions and the various supplementary physical artefacts including the original fishing equipment, traditional protective clothing and the various standard onboard tools. The principal upper floor focuses on the substantial cultural role of cod in the wider Portuguese national gastronomic tradition. The various supplementary interactive displays cover the principal traditional Portuguese cod recipes including the famous Bacalhau a Bras with eggs and fried potatoes, the Bacalhau com Natas with cream, the various preserved cod preparation techniques and the substantial selection of supplementary traditional regional cod specialities. The principal supplementary Terra Nova themed restaurant on the principal upper floor provides a continuing dining option throughout the day for the visitors to the wider museum experience.