The Minister of Culture, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, visited the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) works at the National Museum of Archaeology (MNA) today, which, according to the museum’s director, António Carvalho, are expected to be completed by “June 30, 2026, the PRR’s deadline.”
The intervention at the MNA comprises two phases. The first phase, which includes two contracts – “one for the interior, roof, and structural reinforcement and another for cleaning and conserving the façades” – is financed by the PRR and is estimated at approximately 24.5 million euros.
The second phase, intended “to complete the work,” is estimated at 23 million euros and will require alternative funding, anticipated by the director to come through other European programs or the State Budget.
António Carvalho has not committed to a reopening date for the museum.
“I cannot provide that date at this moment because, firstly, the contract needs to be initiated. It is planned in the State Budget to occur within the first six months of 2026, ideally to continue from what is set to conclude by June 30, 2026,” he told journalists.
The assembly of the museum, “which is not included in that second phase,” will still be pending.
Regarding the works of the second phase, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports stated that the Government will “obviously ensure funding.”
The PRR is a European financing mechanism aimed at implementing structural reforms in response to the pandemic-induced crisis.
In the cultural sector, designated measure C4 – Culture, a total of 346 million euros has been allocated, including 102.39 million euros funded for cultural networks and digital transition, according to the Ministry of Culture.
Among the 85 interventions planned under the PRR are works at the Jerónimos Monastery, the National Museum of Archaeology, the National Museum of Ancient Art, the São Carlos and D. Maria II National Theatres in Lisbon, the Convent of Christ in Tomar, the Batalha Monastery, Pinhel Castle, the Tibães Monastery, the Church of Senhora das Salvas in Sines, the Tibães Monastery in Braga, and the construction of the National Sound Archive in Mafra.
