Discover the History of Lisbon's Maritime Stations, Portugal, on Google Arts & Culture

Designed by Porfírio Pardal Monteiro, the Maritime Stations of Alcântara and Rocha do Conde d’Óbidos were conceived by Portugal’s authoritarian Estado Novo government as a way of presenting seafaring visitors to Lisbon with a grand first impression. The bold murals on their walls, painted in the 1940s by Afro-Portuguese artist José de Almada Negreiros, celebrate the working-class people of the dockyards and subtly pushed back against the regime.

Learn how the maritime stations’ murals challenged the Estado Novo government—and how they narrowly escaped censorship.

Explore the life of Almada Negreiros and how his work challenged typical ways of depicting Portugal’s colonized peoples at the time.

Take a look at the architecture of the stations and the many collaborations between Pardal Monteiro and Almada Negreiros.

These exhibits are part of a larger collection devoted to Black heritage sites entitled The Black Atlantic.

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