Museu Nacional Resistência e Liberdade
The first major fortification on what was the island of Peniche was built in the 16th century, and the Fortaleza de Peniche has played an important role in Portuguese history ever since. In the mid-20th century, the hulking fortress served as a prison for leading opponents of the New State dictatorship; in 1960, it was the site of a spectacular jail break, when Communist Party leader Alvaro Cunhal and a few of his comrades escaped from the high-security wing. This museum---created to tell the story of the prison in the context of the dictatorship, and to memorialize the resistance against it---opened in April 2024, half a century after the revolution that toppled that regime. A tour of its austere spaces and hard-hitting, informative displays will leave no one indifferent.
