National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid, Spain

The National Archaeological Museum of Spain was founded in 1867 by a Royal Decree of Isabella II as a depository for numismatic, archaeological, ethnographical and decorative art collections of the Spanish monarchs.

The museum was originally located in the Embajadores district of Madrid. In 1895, it moved to a building designed specifically to house it, a neoclassical design by architect Francisco Jareño, built from 1866 to 1892. In 1968, renovation and extension works considerably increased its area. The remodelled museum concentrates on its core archaeological role, rather than decorative arts.

The collection includes, among others, Prehistoric, Egyptian, Celtic, Iberian, Greek and Roman antiquities and medieval (Visigothic, Islamic Spanish and Christian) objects.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Robert Bull (14 months ago)
A beautiful museum full of objects of every age from across the world. 3 euro entry Lockers for backpacks are needed. 1 euro Kid friendly. Great access for all. Lifts and toilets are all accessible. You will need many hours to see all the Exhibitions across all floors. No rush to look around, it gets busy. It is however very large so plenty of space for all. Access via underground or buses. It all depends on where you are based. Just a short walk from all.

Ninh Ly (2 years ago)
REALLY GOOD! For €4 entry, this was one of the better museums in Madrid. Lots of interesting exhibits, statues, ancient artefacts and mosaics ... very interesting if you like that sort of thing. If you have spare time, I recommend visiting this museum.

Luis P (2 years ago)
Amazing museum, very well explained with texts in Spanish and English. It shows the wealth of cultures that have occupied the region that is now Spain throughout the centuries. It is free on Sundays, but closes at 3pm. Worth visiting on several days for the more thorough visitor.

Luke (2 years ago)
Tickets are 3 Euros per person, the exhibition had a free feature called Syria in Sepia. Worth the price of admission as you get to see the archaeological history of Spain, Madrid, Toledo and surrounding cities. Many cool artifacts spanning 4 floors from prehistory to more modern items. There are options to have an app which gives you more details about the items on display. A few of the artifacts are available to even touch which is rare. Highly recommended place to visit for a low cost especially if you enjoy archaeological items uncovered throughout history

Pong Lenis (2 years ago)
This is one the nicest museums I’ve ever visited, it is very big and has three floors. Was very excited to see the new exhibits and the old ones. They have a very lovely collection of Roman antiques and very prehistoric artifacts, was definitely worth the trip and would definitely recommend it to anyone in the area or stopping by to visit Madrid.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Andy Hay

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater

The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.

The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.

Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.

National Archaeological Museum of Spain

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater