History

The thousand facets of Lisbon
The Portuguese capital was born more than 3,000 years ago, which makes it one of the oldest cities in Europe. The city we know today began its journey in the Neolithic and the Iron Age, later it became the Roman Olisipo, the Islamic al-Ušbūna, the medieval Lixbona and, as time goes by, after the Modern Age and the Industrial Revolution, Lisbon was arising. An open and cosmopolitan Lisbon, full of culture and with an incalculable historical legacy.

A courageous spirit

The walls of the city were very important in the history of Lisbon, they were essential as a defence system against the threat of foreign peoples.
The first wall was built in the first century and, over the years, it surrounded the entire city. After various renovations, at the end of the 15th century it was adapted to urban life, becoming as part of many of the palaces of the riverside area. The Aurea Museum was one of these palaces and today you can see in the exhibition a part of this valuable wall.

The noble past
If you wander through the exhibition, you will go back to the 16th century, when Aurea Museum was the home of Portuguese nobles. Distributed in two floors, in the upper floor you can access the room where guests are received, the rooms and the garden area. You can also visit on the ground floor the kitchens, the food storage area, the cellar, the servants' rooms and the warehouses for the merchandise of the commerce of East and North of Europe.

The Portuguese signature

One sign of identity of the Portuguese decoration is the tiles.
Since King Don Manuel ordered them for the palace of Sintra at the end of the 15th century, tiles became a key decorative element in palaces, chapels, noble houses and churches. In addition, they are more than a simple ornament; they show from representations of battles to everyday scenes and even satirical settings.

Lisbon is a port open to the world; a cosmopolitan, cultural city with a priceless historic legacy. The civilisations who have inhabited it have left their indelible mark on the city's nature, and guests can explore this at the Aurea Museum 5*.

The hotel is built on the old Palácio dos Condes de Coculim, a building dating back to the 16th century and which suffered the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755. The Hotusa Group acquired it in 2005 and at the start of construction work on the hotel, some archaeological remains were found, including a Phoenician stele from 6,000 B.C., considered the oldest in Western Europe.

After twelve years of excavations and work to preserve the finds, the Aurea Museum 5* displays the remnants of past traditions in the setting where they have been present for the entirety of their existence.

History has left its mark on the walls of this building in the form of labyrinthine geometric mosaics, intimate polychromatic scenes devised with fresco painting, stylish decorations made with the Islamic “golden glow” technique and colourful tiles.

We offer you the chance to take a journey through Lisbon's past, from the Neolithic to Olisipo, and to Islamic al-Usbûna, medieval Lixbona, and modern Lisbon, right up to the industrial age. In short, this is a journey that starts and ends in 2005, when these remains were discovered and restored.