The Money Museum, opened in April 2016 and awarded “Museum of the Year” by the Portuguese Museology Association in 2017, received approximately 75,000 visitors in 2019 eager to learn more about money, its history and development in Portugal and the world.

Dedicated to a constantly evolving programme that stands out, the Money Museum tackles current themes associated with the role of money in people’s lives. 

Knowing that not many people know the mission and tasks of a central bank, the Money Museum presents a new interactive room: UNDERSTANDING.

The main aim of this new area of the Museum is for visitors to learn about and understand the main functions of Banco de Portugal, in an accessible way, and the impact its activities have on their everyday lives.

This new room once again broadens the scope of the Money Museum’s activity after the opening in 2019 of the Financial Education Centre, where families, children and young people can simulate real-life situations that prepare them to make more informed choices on how they spend and save their money. 

By opening the new themed room, Understanding, the Money Museum once again takes another step in its aim of promoting financial literacy .

Amongst other themes, it presents the role of Banco de Portugal in European institutions, talks about inflation and monetary policy, as well as cash in circulation, payment systems, statistics and supervision. In an interactive and easy-to-understand way, upon exploring this area, the Museum’s visitors will have a much clearer idea of the importance of a central bank in their day-to-day.

Using real updated data, through a number of very diverse interactive activities – levers, wheels, buttons, touch screens – visitors can explore basic economic concepts and navigate through various layers of information, based on their level of knowledge and curiosity. At the end of the day, they will have a little more Understanding about what Banco de Portugal does and how it makes a difference to their lives. 

You can visit the Money Museum and get to know this new space completely free of charge, from 10:00 to 18:00 , Wednesday to Sunday.