
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
Art museum built around one oil magnate's collection, spanning ancient Egypt to Art Nouveau.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon follows the Armenian-British oil magnate who checked into the city's Aviz Hotel in 1942 and never left, and the collection of Lalique glass, Egyptian antiquities, and Art Nouveau pieces he spent decades assembling. You'll hear how his nickname, 'Mr. Five Percent', traces back to the oil deal he brokered in Iraq in the 1910s, and why he chose Lisbon over neutral Switzerland when France fell. It follows him from his Paris mansion, where his collection outgrew the walls, to the rooms around you.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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