The Museu da Marioneta (Museum of Puppetry) has been located since November 2001 in the Convent of Bernardas in Lisbon, Portugal, establishing itself as the first museum in Portugal entirely dedicated to the interpretation and dissemination of the history of puppetry, covering the history of this art form across the world, presenting the different types of puppets and the different approaches they allow, with special emphasis on Portuguese puppets.

The museum's collection has been gradually extended and diversified, illustrating the different theatrical forms that derive from ancient traditions or emerge from contemporary artistic searches, exploring new forms, new materials and new techniques. This extension was possible only with the participation of different personalities, authors, collectors and puppeteers who, with us, embraced this project, giving their invaluable contribution through the transfer of their estates, to which the Museum gratefully acknowledges.

At first, it was kept tonic accent in the national universe, being able to be proud of integrating one of the most significant and comprehensive collections of Portuguese traditional puppetry.

Since late 2008, the doors were opened to the world with the host, on deposit, the exceptional and vast collection of puppets and masks of Southeast Asia and Africa of the collector Francisco Capelo.

The Museum is housed in the Convent of Bernardas, classified as a Public Interest. The convent was founded in 1653, by permission of King John IV of Portugal, as being a cloistered closed in 1655.

On the occasion of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the building was almost completely destroyed. Its reconstruction began in 1758 under the architect Giacomo Azzolini.

In 1786 the convent returned to religious use, and it remained as such until 1834, when the religious orders were dissolved and their property expropriated.

The former convent was successively leased, being acquired in 1850 by Joaquim Lopes Chamber who installed a College.