The National Theatre Museum is the national museum and archive of the performing arts in Portugal. Through its collections, it aims at increasing the understanding of the history and current practice of the performing arts and to preserve, record, research and make accessible its collections. It is installed in the Monteiro-Mor Palace, an 18th building which was restored and adapted specifically for that purpose. Nowadays, the Museum’s collection, which began in 1979, has already close to 300.000 items. They comprise costumes and props, stage drawings, set and costume designs, posters, programs, records and music scores and about 120.000 photographs. There is also a specialized library with 35.000 volumes. The mission of this museum is to inform, educate and entertain the public, to be the national centre for research and information on the performing arts in Portugal and to be a dynamic force for the promotion of the performing arts and to reach as wide an audience as possible.