As you walk down busy Rua das Portas de Santo Antão, you notice the splendour of the Coliseu dos Recreios unaware that beside it and sharing a common wall there stands an entirely different world to be discovered. A world that recalls navigators, explorers and adventures whose only external reference is the large plaque that informs passers-by that there stands the Sociedade de Geographia de Lisboa (Lisbon Geographical Society) founded 1875.

But what exactly is this centenarian society? And does it still exist? Curiosity gets the better of us and we enter. And imagine our surprise when the hustle and bustle of the street recedes and we find ourselves in the company of Infante D. Henrique (Henry the Navigator), Pedro Alvares Cabral, Azurara, Fernão Lopes, Castanheda, João de Barros and Veloso Salgado's large painting of Vasco da Gama in the presence of the Zamorin. We turn left and head into the Sala de Convívio dos Sócios e de Acolhimento de Investigadores (Members' and Researchers' Room), green in hue and lined with wood panelling, whose mezzanine floor "invites" members and their companions to ascend for lunch surrounded by maps and engravings of Lisbon.
At this point it is explained that the Lisbon Geographical Society is a scientific society created by a group of illustrious subscribers who, on 10th November 1875, petitioned King Dom Luis for its creation in the aim of "promoting and aiding the study and progress of geography and the correlative sciences". The society held, and still today holds, scientific sessions, conferences and congresses, details of which are published and disseminated in archives, libraries and museums. 
On the first floor, we discover the Library, which contains around 62,000 works, countless magazines and approximately 6,000 manuscripts considered indispensable for the study of history and the discoveries. Nearby is the Map Room, with its extremely valuable cartographic collection, ranging from atlases to maps and plans of both Portuguese and foreign origin. And still on the same floor we find the "Sala de Reuniões" (Boardroom) where the directors meet and on whose walls can be seen oil portraits of former chairmen alongside that of King Dom Luis, its guardian and first honorary chairman. On the second floor, considered the 'noble floor', are a variety of rooms: the "Sala Portugal" (Portugal Room), whose dimensions, 50 metres long by 16 metres wide, are impressive and which is used by the Museu Histórico e Etnográfico (Museum of History and Ethnography) and for large receptions and official ceremonies. The museum contains objects of cultural value originating from West, East and Central Africa, India, China (including Macao), Japan and East Timor. The "Sala Algarve" (Algarve Room) is used for smaller conferences and meetings and contains statues of Vasco da Gama, Henry the Navigator and Camões and at the back a large luminous planisphere showing the different voyages of discovery made expressly for the Paris International Exposition of 1931. The "Sala da Índia" (India Room), besides various portolanos, contains portraits of King Dom Carlos and Queen Dona Amélia with signed dedications and an impressively worked teak Escudo Nacional, Portugal's national emblem. Inside two cupboards can be seen flags from expeditions to Africa and various examples of Indo-Portuguese furniture. Between the "Sala Portugal" and "Sala da Índia" can be found the "Sala dos Padrões" (Padrão Room), which displays a collection of items related to the Portuguese discoveries, the highlight of which is the stone padrões, or territorial possession markers, that Portugal's mariners erected along the African coastline. 
Also of special note is the society's Boletim, or gazette, which has been published uninterrupted since 1876. This prestigious publication, which features work by local and international contributors, includes articles on subjects such as Portuguese colonial expansion, history, anthropology and ethnography, and the natural sciences.
For these and many other "treasures", the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa is worth a visit.

Text: Guilherme Abreu Loureiro (2006)